Legacy: Orphans of Legends (Rewrite)
by BirdFeather1837
Summary: Olympus has prevailed through the struggles of the Titan and Giant Wars thanks to the bravery of the demigods and Olympus has forever changed. After swearing a sacred oath, the gods promised that they would recognize all their children and the minor gods. But change never comes swiftly, especially with immortals, and secrets that were made in shadows must now come into light.
1. Damn Mountains

**Legacy: Orphans of Legends**

 **A/N – I'm back from a little break, sorry.**

 **So, I've been reading back on my chapters and I had noticed how** _ **lengthy**_ **my chapters tended to be.**

 **I've found that shorter chapters tend to be easier to read than lengthy one's of over ten thousand words, so I decided to go through and retype them up to be shorter.**

 **And I've shortened the paragraphs and sentences to work better with those who use the mobile app to read and prefers the font zoomed in like I do.**

 **If you're already familiar with the story, the newest material is on Ch: 15, but I recommend rereading as a few things here and there have changed.**

 **All original locations, characters, and events that are referenced from PJO and HOO belong to Rick Riordan.**

 **Into:**

Fifteen years after the second Giant War, a quiet peace has been welcomed after the harsh struggles of the Demigods of Camps Half-Blood and Jupiter.

Yet, unfortunately, peace can only last so long in the world of the Olympians.

As time goes on, new heroes and heroines are forced to take up the mantle from their predecessors.

For in the darkness of the world, evil works continuously to seek revenge against the Gods and their children.

Those children who stray outside of the protective borders of the camps are subject to being hunted and exploited by monsters and rogue immortals alike.

Deep in the mid-western wilderness in the dead of night, a group of such children struggle to outrun their enemies, who are slowly closing in on their prey.

 **CH-1:** "Damn Mountains!"

 **Faith POV**

I am not having a good day. I'm exhausted, hungry, beat-up all over my body (at least what little I can feel of it), and cold, really frickin cold.

 _When I get back to my tent, I'm going to hibernate for two whole months. No, three, definitely three_ , I thought to myself.

 _But, first things first, I've gotta get out of this problem and back home. If only it was as easy to do as it is to think._

For those just joining this little death march of mine, my name is Faith Honoré, I'm a hunter of Artemis going on two years of the Hunt.

Usually I'd stop and give you my whole life story; strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, favorite movie growing up as a child, etc…

But now is really not the best time, I'm kind of in a very bad situation at the moment.

I, along with three other hunters of Artemis, have been going across miles of rough midwestern wilderness for five days straight. _Or was it six_.

Of the four of us there was me (the newbie), Thalia (the lieutenant of Artemis), Carson (the oldest one of us), and Alice (my best friend).

We were barely taking anything longer than ten minutes of rest and our rations were down to a half empty canteen of water.

In truth, it would have been fine if two of our group members weren't unconscious at the moment, forcing Thalia and I to have to carry them for the last two days.

I took in another of what had to have been the millionth deep breath, and readjusted Carson on my back to get a better grip and continued alongside Thalia, who was carrying Alice on her back too.

We were both making are way over yet another gods-damn mountain.

 _Seriously! How many of these things are there in the Rocky Mountains? And why the hell were they "literally" so rocky?! Stupid Rocky's!_

After another few hours of slow walking, we both stopped again to catch our breath, neither of us needing to ask each other since we were both tired from trying to keep our pace. But to me, each step I took was an achievement of its own.

"We'll rest for ten minutes here, check Carson out." Thalia stuttered after taking a few breaths.

She then found a soft patch of grass and set her spear down which she had been using as a walking stick.

"Okay," I said in relief, "how much farther do you think we have?" I asked while making my way over to Thalia, who looked more beat-up than me, but had kept a look of determination on her face this whole time.

"Till what?" she asked.

"Till we finally make it out of these mountains?"

"I don't know… maybe another day or two." Thalia replied absentmindedly as she slowly put Alice on the ground.

I did the same with Carson, being as careful as I could so I wouldn't increase her injuries any more than they were.

"And then what? We keep heading East?" I questioned, the exhaustion and fatigue finally starting to get to me.

Questioning Thalia was not something to do often, but I just couldn't believe that things would get any better once we were on flatter terrain.

While it would mean we could pick-up the pace without the hindrance of all this uneven terrain, but the same would go to our enemies as well.

"They'll catch up to us eventually. There must be a way to get help sooner. Carson and Alice's condition will only get worse and..."

"I KNOW ALREADY!" Thalia shouted back with a look anger at my bluntness.

I jumped back a bit at her tone, Thalia can look pretty scary when she's angry; she'll sometimes unintentionally make sparks with tiny spouts of electricity around her body, which she was doing now.

She then sighed at the ground, calming down and looking too tired to continue being angry.

"I know that there isn't much of a chance, but it's the best option I can think of without a way to contact the rest of the Hunt. We just have to keep going, and hope for the best." Thalia reasoned.

Despite her hard headedness, Thalia was a good leader. She doesn't let pressure or stress affect her decisions _…_ most of the time _._

Thalia then began checking Alice over. Seeing that she was okay (or at least not worse), she then bluntly plopped down on the ground, resting her sore legs. She took out the canteen of water and took a few small sips.

I, on the other hand, was still frustrated with our circumstances.

I hated the plans where you just keep going without a solid clue as to where you were going or how to reach your destination and _hoping_ everything goes smoothly.

 _I've heard most demigod quests are like that but I was hoping the Hunt would avoid such stupid things. At least we didn't have to deal with prophecies._

But still, just trusting in your instincts never sounded like a good thing to me. In my experience, hope was never something you should rely on.

Funny since my name basically means hope! _Thanks pops, way to plan ahead._

But I knew that Thalia was right. If we stopped and tried to hideout, our enemy would never give us the chance to run away again.

We were lucky the first time, and I for one didn't want to continue to press my luck till it eventually would run out. _We still don't even know who_ _our_ _enemy is!_

I took a moment after sitting down and looked up towards the pitch black of the night sky beyond the branches of the pine trees that surrounded us.

There was no moon or stars shining down on us tonight, or any of the previous night's either.

 _That can't be natural, something or someone must be blocking them intentionally, otherwise the Hunt would have found us by now; Or at least we could've found them._

I once again prayed to Lady Artemis, despite the lack of a moon, to send help and strength to us. But after running and hiking across the mountains of…

 _Where the heck were we? Idaho maybe? I've lost track._

Wherever we were, I'm beginning to doubt that continuing to pray was really any help to me or my fellow hunters, but I'll continue to do so anyway.

 _It can't hurt to try_.

After not seeing or feeling a response, I sighed and returned my attention back to my two unconscious friends Carson and Alice. Both still looked horrible, though I'm more worried for Carson.

She's lost a lot of blood from her right shoulder wound that a spear made in battle three days ago by an empousa, as well as the various bite and scratch marks on her arms and legs.

The worst being on her right leg which had a huge gash in it that was caused by a hellhound.

I was barely able to stop it from bleeding out most of her body's blood (and yes, it was disgusting to have to do, I actually lost my breakfast when I started).

 _I may know basic first-aid, but I'm a hunter! Not a stupid doctor!_

The main problem was that we had run out of ambrosia, so the only healing methods we had left was our body naturally healing themselves or moon light.

One of the many perks to being a hunter of the moon goddess was that whenever the moon was out, our bodies became stronger and even healed faster, but since there hasn't been a moon for days, that gift was useless to us.

Carson had been awake on and off for a few days, then she passed out yesterday due to fatigue and blood loss.

Being a Hunter may give you more strength and stamina than most mortals, but even Artemis' blessings had their limits, which we were no doubt testing.

I patched her up as best I could give the circumstances without any nectar or ambrosia, but if she didn't get help soon…

No, best not to think about that now.

As for the things we were currently running from, well even Thalia didn't know the answer to that, despite the fact that she was the one that had been given the: _Secret Mission._

Originally, Artemis had sent us to Seattle to meet up with the Amazons to see if anyone wanted to be recruited into the Hunt.

Are two groups of badass warrior ladies had become very close to each other since the events of Cuba during the Giant war, which was before my time with the Hunt began.

I didn't know all the details of it, the other hunters don't talk about it. Carson had once told me they had lost too many for the battle for it to seem like a victory.

Queen Latisha, the current leader of the Amazons had always valued the partnership with the Hunt just as her predecessor, Hylla, had; she did say we could loosen up a bit when it comes to hating males.

I laughed at that remark.

Considering the Amazons treated their male members like pets and slaves (which the Hunt found very appropriate), I failed to see the brighter side of her views.

After we'd left the Amazons Wearhouse, Thalia said she had to take a detour to a place called Hells Canyon in Oregon for a scouting mission given by Lady Artemis herself.

Carson and Alice had convinced her to take us along rather than going it alone.

 _This may sound selfish, but right know I wish we'd not gone with Thalia, or better yet; not gone at all!_

Suffice to say, the mission didn't go well.

We got caught and know found ourselves being hunted by various monsters that seemed to come out of nowhere.

I would have asked why Artemis had given us a mission like that, but I thought better of it.

The last thing Thalia needed right now was someone pushing her buttons when she already was suffering the consequences of her decision.

I checked Carson's wounded shoulder and leg, telling myself to keep my head here and not up in the clouds.

The wounds were still bloody and looking worse than the last time I saw them. Best guess was they might have become infected, despite my attempts to prevent it.

"Can't catch a break." I whispered to no one except myself.

I almost wished I was a daughter of that numb skull healer Apollo. _Just almost_. At least then I would have been more useful to my friends in this situation _._

Over by Thalia, Alice seemed to be better than Carson, but not by much. She also donned several cuts and bruises like the rest of us.

What really got her down was when she was savagely thrown to the side of a building and smashed her head by a cyclops.

She still lasted long enough to fight the enemy off before going unconscious. _That girl is as stubborn as a wild animal sometimes._

She won't bleed to death, but I still knew that kind of an injury was still serious without medical treatment.

The sooner the better, my experience in this kind of situation is limited _. Three years in the hunt, and I'm still at beginner level._ _So frustrating._

Lady Artemis had always taught me that age and experience does help, but what matters most is your hunter's instincts and intuition to survive.

 _I'm not even sure if that was_ _advice_ _or just an opinion._

 _I wonder whether my intuition is what has kept me alive so far,_ I thought. _Right now, all I'm getting from it was the command: sleep, sleep, sleep repeated_.

Oh, how I wish I could oblige that advise, but right now, sleep was something I could not afford. Our enemy can't stay back forever, they'd catch up eventually.

We haven't run into any more monsters since we entered these mountains, which was strange.

While I am grateful for the break, personal experience has shown that going on for some time without monster attacks is uncommon, especially when you're with a group of demigods.

It's like instead of one annoying cell phone going off, it's a bunch more, making it harder to go unnoticed by monsters.

"Ugh…ouch." A voice said below me, breaking my train of thought.

I look down to see Carson beginning to wake up. _Thank the gods, I was beginning to be afraid she'd never wake up._

"Carson! Can you hear me?" I asked. Thalia noticed her as well and walked around so she was kneeling beside me.

Carson blinked a few times and crunched her eyebrows, no doubt having a huge headache while dealing with the pain.

"Faith?" she mumbled slowly, "Yeah, I can hear you, where are we? Did we get away? Is Alice alright?"

 _Always right to questions with her_.

Being a daughter of Athena, Carson tended to be the one for questions, always needing to know as much as possible.

"We're okay for now, Alice is pretty banged up, and we are somewhere in southern Idaho." Thalia said, trying to sound positive and gave her a kind smile, but I doubt she succeeded very well.

Carson could always call out a fake smile, it must come from reading people well. Daughter of wisdom and all.

Nevertheless, she seemed to relax somewhat at her attempt to sound positive. G _uess it worked a little._

"Well that's good at least. Have we contacted help yet?" She asked, Thalia and I shook our heads sadly.

"No, we don't even know if they are looking for us or even if they know that we need help. Our best hope is to keep moving and hope they find us eventually before those _hounds_ do." Thalia said.

Carson grunted in frustration (or in pain). "What about the moon, has that come out yet?"

"No, it hasn't. It's the fourth night in a row without one in the sky. The clouds just won't clear up. Honestly I feel like it's being blocked on purpose." I replied.

"How is that possible?" Carson asked, mainly to herself as if deep in thought. Thalia answered her anyway.

"I'm not sure, but we only have a day or so until we make it out of these mountains, at least I think we do. If we can just make it to a town somewhere, we will have better luck getting help." Thalia said.

Carson seemed to accept this, although she did not look happy about the makeshift plan we came up with _._

I gave her the canteen of water to take a sip. I glanced at Thalia as she got up and went over to Alice to check her wounds as well.

She had placed a damp rag on Alice's head, wiping away her sweat and I was now noticing her heavy breathing.

 _She must have caught a fever, great. How much more can the Fates throw at us before their entertained enough?!_ I thought (or internally screamed).

I sighed at the sight. Alice has been in the Hunt for 14 years, she was my closest friend in the group, and it kills me to see her like this.

"How are you holding up Faith?" Carson asked, her voice sounded hoarse and weak.

"So far so good. It hasn't been easy keeping up with Thalia, but my legs haven't failed me just yet." I said in a joking tone.

" _Cough, cough_! Egh… Good to hear, it's nice to know you've still got a sense of humor." She said in a weak and shallow voice, but still earned a small smirk from me.

Humor always seemed to help cloak the danger of a situation, even if it was poor humor.

 _Hopefully, Thalia and I will find help before things get any worse. There must be a way to..._

I suddenly froze right there, leaning my head to the side trying to hear something that had caught my ear.

Thalia and Carson seemed to catch it too.

Out of the dark and calm breeze of the night, a single noise began to dominate the wind and rose in pitch till it was the unmistakable sound of a smooth yet savage… _howl._

Instantly, Thalia and I were on our feet, hands on our weapons, trying to find the direction of the howl.

 _Sounds like it's coming from the northwest, but it's too beastly to be a normal wolf._

Carson cringed at the sound, as if she was familiar with it and didn't like what she was remembering it from.

I tried to place it with the numerous monsters calls I knew, but not many came to mind.

Last time I checked, hellhounds don't howl. But is that a plus or is this something worse?

 _Probably worse._

Thalia then adorned a face of recognition that swiftly turned to her signature look that said, _"I. Am. Pissed."_

Carson soon followed Thalia's look of hatred. _I still don't recognize it, there can't be_ _too many_ _monsters out there who know how to howl._

"What was that?" I asked as the sound died down just as slowly as it began, yet neither hunters gave me a response.

Instead they continued to look angry and quiet. They scanned their surroundings and tilted their heads licensing to see if the sound would come again.

My head started spinning with confusion and worry.

I had heard many stories from the older hunters that involved beasts of savagery and relentlessness unlike any other monsters.

 _Mutts_ , that's what they called them, the way they said it almost made them sound worse than males.

One thing that most hunters have in common is their hatred of men, and if they considered these enemies to be worse than males, they must be bad.

The two's silence began to make me nervous. If whatever out there made these two war veteran hunters this skittish, it couldn't be good.

 _Calm down Faith, you're not alone._ I tried my best to soothe myself, but it wasn't going so well.

Thalia, on the other hand, still looked pissed. She was probably thinking, " _damn you Fates"._

I would have agreed in that remark. Thalia was nothing if not rebellious, and never took fear in the stories of old hunts, some of which she had been a part of.

I heard that she had also encountered those _Mutts_ a few years after she became lieutenant. _I heard she found a lost family member that day; a brother, I think._

Then there was another howl like the last one, but this one was more powerful, as if it was directed in their direction.

 _That can't be good._

"Shit." Thalia growled. "Faith quick! Grab Carson, we need to move."

Knowing it would only slow us down, I decided against asking any questions and just focus on moving, fast.

We quickly picked up our wounded girls as safely and quietly as we could. _Breaks over! Back into the fire… lovely._

"This is gonna hurt a little Carson but try to work through it." I said, knowing she was not in for an easy ride.

She tried to muffle a wine as I picked her up by her good shoulder and then put her on my back.

I tried my best to not cause her pain but speed was needed. Once we were up, Thalia hurried off along the mountain side with myself right behind her.

The pace was now much quicker than before, adrenaline having been kicked in by the sudden fear and urgency of the situation.

On we went.

Neither Thalia nor I knew exactly where we were headed, all either of us thought of was getting as far away from the source of that sound.

I began to get another feeling; like we're being watched or something.

I glanced around to see if I was right but saw nothing through the dark of night. Just rouge shadows and shapes, then one shadow moved slightly.

It was swift and silent. Following us for a second, but then vanished as if it was never there to begin with.

I watched for it again while we ran but saw nothing.

I thought about alerting Thalia, but I decided to just play it off as my mind playing tricks on me.

Soon we heard another howl from behind us, once again directed at us but it didn't seem to be getting any farther from us.

 _Maybe a few miles away, but it's hard to tell, these stupid mountains make it hard to judge sounds and distance._

And then there were two more that joined the first.

They came from the same general direction, but sounded like they were a ways apart.

 _How many are there? Please do not let it be their whole frickin army, I just cannot deal with an army right now._ I complained to myself.

"Augh!" Carson cried as my feat stuttered, almost tripping, and I tightened my grip on reflex.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, this unlevel and rocky terrain was really starting to mess with my balance.

"Just leave me. I'm slowing you two down. Both of you take Alice out of here. I can at least slow those things down." she pleaded.

 _Blood loss must be messing with her brain, she doesn't really think I'd leave her? No chance._

Thalia apparently thought the same.

"Not happening! We are all getting out of this together!" Thalia's rebuttal was firm and unquestionable.

 _That's our lieutenant for you, defiant and loyal as always_.

We continued across the rough, rocky, and (annoying) unlevel terrain.

The mountains stood high above us as if they were daring us to challenge them. But one in particular was looming over us as we tried to make our way around its basin.

 _It might just be me, but I'm getting the feeling that it's watching us. The fatigue must finally be getting to me._

 _First shadows moving, then mountains creepily watching. What next? Trees that sing?_

Carson's weight felt like it was getting heavier the farther we trekked. She continued her best to remain quiet, but her body was in a lot of pain.

"Just hold on Carson, we're going to make it." I whispered to her though it was more for myself rather than her.

" _Ugh_. I hope we do, but those _Mutts_ are, _guh_ … elite predators." She said.

 _But who the hell are they? No one has told me about them other than are nickname for them and that they are our "arch" enemy. Whatever that means._

The Hunt doesn't exactly have a short list of beings and groups that wish us dead.

Then, after what seemed like a lifetime of silence, more howls came from deep in the forest. There sounds like there was a lot more of them this time.

 _Whatever they are, they must have picked up our sent, crap! How many? Four, five, maybe six? What if they have hounds, dracaena, or cyclops like before? Please don't let them have a drakon! A drakon would suck right now._

"Damn it, NO. I'm not dying like this again." Thalia growled as she doubled her efforts, I really didn't know what she meant exactly.

I'd heard that she sort of died before she became a huntress. Something about a pine tree and a golden blanket of some kind?

I decided to ask her for the full story later, when we weren't running for our lives.

We continued on, driven by adrenaline and instinct.

Running and running through the foliage till we reached a clearing of the trees where we met a wedge in the "over watching" mountain we'd been circling.

The cliff face seemed to stretch out to the next mountain to the south as if the two were stretching out to each other, and the result formed a giant wall.

The rock formation offering no way over the obstacle.

 _We would have to go down the mountain slope and then up and around the next mountain if we wanted to keep going East._

"Damn mountain." was all I had to say for the situation.

There is no way for us to continue around this oversized rock. I gave the rock face my most hate filled glare.

As if the mountain was an actual living thing that was hell bent on making our lives filled with challenge after challenge.

 _Honestly, after the visit to the Waystation in Indianapolis, nothing would surprise me too much._

The cliff face must have been 40 meters high at the wedge. As it went on to connect to the other mountain, the lowest point barely looked no higher than 20 meters.

 _Not exactly what I'd call an improvement_ , _it still leaves us no way to scale it with the girls on our backs_.

Thalia heaved a groan, noticing exactly what I had, then shouted, "Great! Just great!" Not seeming to care whether our pursuers heard her or not, though at this point I doubt it mattered.

She stood there trying to find a solution.

She grunted, "There is no way this will work, we need to backtrack and find another way around th…"

She never finished as she was canceled out by a roaring sound through the forest.

Howling...

Loud and horrid howling, coming from the tree line, sounding like a chorus of rough flutes playing together.

Thalia and I turned to face the darkness between the trees and we backed up slowly to the unclimbable cliff side.

 _There's gotta be a dozen now, they're probably beginning to surround us._

We've been boxed in.

Seeing no way out, Thalia and I looked at each other. I could see the multiple emotions in her eyes.

Anger, determination, most of all there was that rebellious glare that she was famous for, it went well with the short, black, punk spiky hairstyle she never got tired of and those electric blue eyes that could send shivers down anyone's spine. But something else was there as well.

A question.

Her look seemed to ask if I knew and was ready for what was to come in the next few minutes.

 _Am I?_

While I don't know what my eyes showed at that moment. Inside I was panicking.

 _After everything, this is how it is? After all my troubles and mistakes that lead me here. All the things I have to make up for. THIS is my fate?_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

.

 _NO!_

 _NO!_

 _NO!_

 _HELL! NO! I refuse to die here willingly in this dark corner of the world without amounting to anything!_

As my attitude hardened, I gave Thalia the best rebel glare I could make (Thalia, actually, had a whole introductory lesson on how to make different glares at people, she saw it as an intimidation tactic).

She smirked and nodded, accepting my answer to her unspoken question and I swear I saw a look of pride at my efforts.

 _Guess I can cross one skill off the bucket list._

She shared a similar look with Carson who must have given her the same, if not better, response.

We set the unconscious Alice and Carson, who looked to be having trouble staying conscious, down on the side of the cliff.

There was another blast of howling that rained through the forest directed towards us. _That settles it, their coming. We might have three or five minutes._

 _There's no running this time._

As I began to get up, I was stopped by a tug on my sleeve. I looked down to see Carson looking up at me with renewed strength.

She looked to me then to Thalia.

"Can I borrow a blade Thalia? I'll guard Alice as best I can." Carson said.

Thalia took a second, then nodded and gave me one of her hunting daggers which I then gave to Carson.

As Carson grasped the dagger in her left hand, Thalia's hand grabbed the hilt along with mine and Carson's.

I looked at her confused at first, but I instantly understood. This was her moment of truth with us.

She looked at both Carson, me, then at Alice lying off to the side. Her face filled with a look of sorrow and regret.

 _The cost of command, your responsible for those under you and their safety. An honor for sure, but one I'd prefer to not have. I doubt I could handle the stress of failing._

"Whatever happens tonight, you girls are some of the best hunters there are. I wouldn't rather be with anyone else at the..."

"Don't say it." Carson interrupted her. "We are still breathing, and I don't plan on changing that."

That's Carson for you. She has been in the Hunt for over 250 years and still only looked 14.

She was my teacher as well as my friend who'd taught me almost everything about the Hunt and the skills to become a prime member.

I placed my other hand on Thalia's shoulder, giving her a light squeeze for encouragement.

"But no matter what becomes of us this night, the honor is ours Thalia Grace." Carson stated.

Thalia looked grateful and held a new determined look on her face.

I admire these two, both seeming to accept the current situation, but with an air of defiance.

 _With girls like these in the hunt, no wonder Artemis takes pride in having us._

I would have added in my own pit of optimism, but last stand speeches were not the kind of things I like to practice.

I just gripped the hands of my friends tighter, as my arms were beginning to shake.

I was scared, there was no real way to be ready for what might be the last fight of your life.

I let a tear or two fall, no longer having the will to hold back my fear. The two elder hunters didn't say anything to my obvious terror, but gripped my hands just as tightly.

The memory of the first time I cried in the hunt came to mind, when I broke my ankle during my training months.

Carson had said that it was okay to cry in times of hardship; so long as you kept moving forward, those tears would never be looked upon by my sisters as disgraceful.

It was probably that moment when I had really begun to become one of them.

You never need to show a brave face with those who care about you, and the Hunters cared, no doubt about it.

Our moment did not last long sadly.

"I see that you all have accepted your fates." A smooth monotone voice spoke out from the trees.

 **A/N – End scene one.**

 **For those of you who are reading this story for the first time, welcome! Enjoy, comment if you like it, and recommend it to your friends.**

 **For anyone who isn't new, I hope the shortened version is more to your liking.**

 **Hopefully this way I can update faster.**

 **On that note, I hope everyone's year went off with a good start, or at the very least not a bad one.**

 **Next –** Ch.2 Help… Anyone


	2. Help Anyone

**Orphans of Legends**

 **CH-2:** Help… Anyone

Thalia and I immediately turned and took a defense stance around our wounded hunters, our eyes searching for the man that spoken.

Carson quickly carried herself over to Alice, her dagger pointed out at the wood line.

Out of the dark shadows came a man who looked to be well built with what looked like a low cut mohawk.

He looked to be wearing a dark collared shirt with two strings falling down from the collar.

It was hard to make any more details with no light of the moon, but we could still see well at night. _Thank you blessing of Artemis._

He was followed by a few other figures, two men and... a girl I think, then four dracaenas and six large dark wolves that I could barely make out.

These wolves looked like they were three times the size of the Hunts wolves, and their hair is messy and spiky in some places.

They definitely needed a bath, I could almost smell them.

"I must admit, you four have avoided us much longer than I would have figured. With two wounded no-less. I must commend you on that."

 _This man almost makes it sound like we impressed him. Never imagined an would ever compliment me on my ability to avoid them._

He spoke very precisely, sounding kinda like a therapist or psychiatrist would when they talk to a patient.

Slow, fluent, unhostile, and without contractions.

"Ssspeak for yoursssself, thesssse wretched mongrelssss have forccceeed me to chasssse them all the way from Sssseattle, my tale issss killing me!" spoke one of the dracaenas who slithered up alongside the mohawk guy.

Dracaena are snake people with their lower bodies are that of a snakeand clawed hands that would never be good for messages.

 _Plus, they draw out their S's since, you know, their snake people. Duh._

"Glad we offered you both some entertainment and discomfort. If you want some more of that last part, we'd be glad to help!" Thalia replied as she moves slightly ahead of me brandishing her spear that sparked with small flashes of lightning along its length.

Go figure Thalia would be as spit fire as ever in the face of an enemy.

Mr. Mohawk manjust seemed to ignore the complaints from the dracaena and quietly laughed at Thalia as if he found her rebellious nature to be humorous.

His reaction actually put a smirk on me _._

 _He's got no idea how much of a pain in the ass Thalia can be._

"I have heard many tales of the new and mighty lieutenant of Artemis' Hunters. Despite only having a position for a short time in comparison with your predecessor, you have grown quite strongly in the position. I believe Nightshade would have been proud."

That seemed to catch Thalia off guard as she noticeable tensed.

"Though you and I have never faced against each other before, I have been looking forward to the chance." The man said in a smooth and patient tone.

I urged my face not to show my confusion towards his words.

 _What's his deal? He sounds like he is also complimenting us for putting up a good fight after a game. And how would he know anything about… what was her name? Zoe?_

I'd heard stories of her and how she was the greatest (or the most famous) of all the Hunters both current and former.

So great that Lady Artemis had bestowed the rare honor of placing her in the stars among dozens of other heroes.

 _But how would this guy have known her?_

"You Dare!" I heard Carson shout.

"You are not worthy to speak her name you filthy piece of scum!" she shouted out as she forced herself up while leaning back on the rock face.

She continued to stand protectively over Alice, but she still looked intimidating despite her injuries and paled face.

 _And there's Athena's Goddess of War's side showing._ I thought, my mouth morphing into a smirk.

The wolves growled at Carson's remark and looked like they were itching for a slaughter. The dracaenas hissed and prepared to put their bows and arrows to some good use.

Mohawk simply glared back at the wolves and dracaenas and they instantly silenced themselves, but still gave us looks of hatred and hunger.

He then turned his attention back to us and sighed shaking his head, as if he was dealing with an annoying child in Walmart.

He began looking each of us over, his gaze settling on Carson and Alice.

"You are not looking so good over there huntress, and your other friend on the ground does not look like she's going to be of any assistance to you." The man stated, not at all frightened by Carson's show of strength.

The one noticeable girl of the group however looked a little intimidated by Carson's words.

"I will give you the chance hunters, surrender now _willingly_ , or we will force you to submit. I would prefer the former." He said, his eyes looking straight at Thalia.

 _Surrender, why? And he's asking us? Without gloating or insulting to us? This guy is odder than most of the other monsters I've met._

 _Most would either boast or attack us by now. Why would this guy prefer the cleaner solution?_

Thalia seemed to share my confusion.

"And why would a _Mutt_ offer us surrender. You guys usually just demand and take whatever you want. Or are you just afraid we'll kick all your asses across this whole mountain?" she said, her body sending off a few sparks to the ground.

Like I said, Thalia's a spitfire; especially towards someone who's pissed her off.

The other enemies looked like they could barely hold back their anger.

All aside from Mr. Mohawk, the girl, and one of the wolves that looked to be cleaner and less hostile than the others.

The other two men looked like they were twitching with anger. Like they were literally trying to hold in their rage.

As for the girl, she smirked at Thalia's last question.

 _Does she find it funny?_

 _No, from the look she's giving her, she probably just thinks Thalia's got guts for saying such a threat in this situation._

Mr. Mohawk only looked to be slightly annoyed than angered at Thalia's disrespect.

"Think of my offer as you wish, but I promise that if you do choose to surrender now without a fight, all of you will not be harmed and I will see to it that your comrades are given medical care."

I glanced at Thalia to see if her face could give me any hint about what she plans on saying to him, she kept her face stoic and enraged; no doubt or confusion showed on her.

I, on the other hand, was not convinced.

 _I doubt that we would be treated as kindly as the guy claims, if there was one thing Lady Artemis warned us of these Mutts, it was to never trust them to their word unless they were promising you some amount of pain and suffering._

I was starting to get an idea as to what these guys are and why they are called _Mutts_.

All the two guys in the rear did was twitch and growl like they were wild animals or something.

"If you think I'm actually going to trust any promises from monsters like you, you've got a better chance at getting Hades to laugh at a knock-knock joke." Thalia stated.

From what I could see, there was no peaceful resolution to this.

If either us or them are going to get what we want, there's going to have to be some fighting _._

 _Like the four of us hadn't had enough already!_ I thought

Mr. Mohawk scowled at that, then he sighed loudly and put his right hand to his eyebrows and his left to his hip, no doubt starting to reach the limit of his patience.

"I am trying to avoid a fight huntress, but if that is what it must take to get you to cooperate with us, then so be it."

He turned to the man on his right side who had untamed black hair with sideburns, a scar adorned his left cheek under his eye, looking like he had cried the scare on his face.

"Take them, but I want them alive Agus. Understood?!" he said the last part louder and with high authority.

The "right hand" man looked annoyed at the limitation but nodded to his leader then turned to us and growled with a crooked smile, showing his teeth, which happen to have a pair of large canines.

The next thing I knew, the man that was called Agus suddenly burst into another giant dark wolf like the other six around the clearing.

He was followed by the other man to the left of Mohawk, but the girl stayed the same.

 _Well that confirms what we're dealing with, but I think I would have preferred_ _cyclops_ _._

 _Werewolves._

It had to be werewolves of all monsters! Next thing you know, there's going to be a pack of vampires and an awkward yet hot teen girl who likes a guy from both groups!

 _Gods, how can I be thinking about the stupid Twilight Saga at a time like this?!_

I tried my best to stand firm, but I couldn't help but shake and shuffle back slightly at the beasts which didn't go unnoticed.

The wolf that had been the one called Agus did what I assume was a wolf's attempt to laugh, then began to inch forward.

Head low, legs bent, readying to jump up and attack at a moment's notice.

He showed his open mouth with a low growl that vibrated of his stomach, his sharp sets of teeth dripped with his spit and stained red.

 _Are those red stains on his teeth natural, or from a previous meal?_

I tried my best not to show fear at him, after three years in the Hunt, it's going to take a lot more than a little growling and huffing to intimidate me.

But there _are_ a lot of them, and we are not exactly in the best fighting shape _._

 _Can't afford to distance myself; if we stay together, we'll be stronger. If they divide us, we're dead._

Thalia backed up a little and I followed her movement, guessing it was so we could better protect Carson and Alice.

 _She must think the same._ _Two and a half hunters against eight werewolves and four dracaenas were not exactly fair odds in my book._

"This is now your final chance hunters." Mr. Mohawk stated "Please, think of your wounded. Think of yourselves, do you three really want to die here in the middle of nowhere? There is no glory in it, there is no honor in your unnecessary deaths!"

The man said with a hint of pleading in his voice, you could almost see it in his eyes too.

"Why doesss that matter? They are our enemiesss; they are _your_ prey. They have forccced usssss to hunt them down for the lasssst three dayssss. They dessserve a painful death." The lead dracaena stated as she loaded and aimed her bow at Thalia.

The other three dracaenas did the same, each pointing at one of us.

Mr. Mohawk looked at the monsters with disgust, as did the girl behind him, but before he could get a word in, a voice from behind me beat him to it.

"Maybe your right."

It was Carson's voice.

I fought the urge to look back at her to ask what she meant, knowing that my focus must be in front of me.

"But it's better than being made prisoners to monsters like you." She said and I chanced a glance.

She readied her dagger, taking as good a battle stance as she could with her injury, she had nothing but determination edged on her face.

Agus, seeming to have had enough of the talking, barked and growled at us.

He ran forward and leaped at Carson, dead set on sending her straight to Hades, but was blocked as Thalia intercepted him with her spear.

Hitting him with a powerful swipe that looked like it had more power in it that would have been expected from Thalia who looked to be only 15 to 16 years old.

The wolf flew back ten meters back and thumped against a pine tree then fell on the ground. But he just got back up and shook his body.

His growl intensified as if the strike only fueled his rage and strength.

Two other wolves followed the charge, one going to me, the other to Thalia.

The rest of the group slowly closing in behind the first wave.

"Hold your fire unless you absolutely need to, we need them alive." Mr. Mohawk ordered the dracaenas who looked ready to shoot at a moment's notice with or without orders.

The wolf that was dead set on me charged, teeth bared.

I got into the intercept stance I was taught with my dagger (a silver carbine knife) in a reverse grip. Taking a pose that probably looked like someone about to fight a boxing match except with a knife in one hand.

As beastly as the big wolf was, it was smart enough not to charge at me all at once.

He or she ( _I'm not exactly focusing on its gender here)_ began nipping at me with its mouth, barking randomly while trying to make an opening.

All my focus is directed toward my opponent, I couldn't afford to even take a glance around me without giving him an opening.

We continued our stand off for another minute or so, both of us making slow movements.

I couldn't say for certain, but I think that I was being forced away from the others.

 _Gotta turn this around!_

I begin searching for my own opening to advance on the wolf. Another few seconds went by and then I have it. _It's risky, but it's all I have_.

I faint left, hoping the wolf takes the bait.

That single moment seems to last for eternity, I decided to go for broke and asked for guidance by someone I thought I'd never ask.

 _Mother, if you are out there, anything you got would help at this point!_

I don't know if it was my prayer or just rotten luck, but the wolf takes the bait and lunges at me.

I take my chance.

Dropping low and dashing forward under the mid-jumped wolf and slice my dagger up.

I could feel my blade dug into the wolf's belly as it sailed over me.

Rolling into a summersault, then twisting to face the wolf's direction, I raised my dagger and arm up ready for if the wolf came back at me.

 _Come on, please tell me it worked!_

As I look at the wolf, it landed and limped sluggishly forward, not turning to face me.

I could see red along the ground as it went; its belly dripping blood, coating its dirty fur in crimson.

 _Since when do monsters bleed?_ I thought, remembering the lessons I was taught on fighting monsters.

It whimpers a little then stops; with one last exhale, the wolf crumbles to its side, lifeless as a pool of red spread around it.

I finally release the breath I'd been holding in for I don't know how long.

My mind was blank, I didn't move.

There was silence everywhere, I couldn't tell what was going on around me. I didn't know what to do next.

As I stared at the carcass of my enemy, it stayed there lying still.

 _Don't most monsters usually fade into dust and ash when they die?_

My mind couldn't comprehend what I'd just done. I killed it, no Tartarus, no re-forming.

 _Dead_ …

I had never killed something before, even on food hunting trips, I always intentionally missed because I couldn't bring myself to do it.

But this time I had no choice.

I don't know how long I knelt there where I landed, staring at the body. It felt like an eternity.

 _I actually took a life._

My brain was locked in a cycle or confusion and rampant guilt of me killing the creature.

 _I killed him._ The words seemed to echo in my head with a voice that sounded like mine yet wasn't.

 _I killed him_

 _I killed him_

 _I killed him_

 _I killed him_

 _._

 _._

 _I can't breathe…_

As the words repeated over and over in my head, I lost track of everything else.

The battle, the enemy, my friends, even my own body which I began to ache for a breath of air that my lungs didn't seem to want.

Fear and panic began to run rampant in my mind without any control. I began to see dots in my vision as it also became fuzzy.

 _Thalia…help…_

" _Breathe."_ A voice said that sent a shock through my whole body.

 _What? Who…?_

" _Faith, breathe."_ A calm and caring female voice said in my head.

I don't know why, but it brought me back to focus. I finally inhaled a much-needed breath and closed my eyes to try and get my head straight.

 _What's going on?_

" _You fought well my dear, but you're not finished yet, your friends need you. Now stand up Faith, stand up!"_

The voice was firm yet filled with encouragement that flooded me with strength.

I somehow finally brought myself up to my feat but had to bend over and lean on my knees till the dizziness left me.

I had never heard that voice before, yet it still sounded familiar to me somehow.

 _Was that my...?_

 _No, I can deal with that later._

I thought as I decided to think on it later, if there was a later that is.

Once I finally could focus, I took a swift look around me to gage the situation, it looked like only a few seconds had passed when it felt like it had been longer.

Thalia was fighting off, three wolves at once. Swinging and stabbing her spear like she was born with it.

There were two more bodies near her, another wolf and a dracaena that was dissolving to ash.

 _Once again, Thalia proves just how badass she can be._

They must have marked her as the primary threat since they thought only one wolf could deal with me. I got up and began heading her way to help when I heard a blood chilling scream of pain.

"AAHHHH!" I turned and saw that Carson is being stabbed by another spear through the stomach by one of the other dracaenas!

I didn't see Alice near her, but my only concern now was Carson.

"NO!" I scream and rush to her aid.

The dracaena turns and sees me sprinting at her, smiles, then laughs wickedly as she prepares to yank the spear out of Carson's stomach.

"Yessss, come huntresssss, to your dea… What?" The serpent haired demoness stopped mid-sentence to look down as to why she couldn't pull her spear up.

Glancing down, I see Carson holding the spear in place with her hands gripping it with white knuckles.

"AAHHHGGG! Do. It. Faith!" Cough, "Strike her DOWN!" Carson urged me.

"Sssstupid curssssed child, jusssst die already!" the dracaena screeched as she was about to strike at the cause of the delay with her tail.

I took the opportunity Carson gave me and I attacked the dracaena who had given up on the spear and move back to her bow, but I was already too close for it to be effective.

The dracaena drew her bowstring back to let loose an arrow, I took yet another chance and continued to sprint at her.

" _The closer the target, the harder it is to hit."_ Artemis's words echoed in my head.

The monster let the arrow loose, as it flew at me, I tried to dodge it with a slight shift right.

It worked… _I think_.

I felt a sting on my face but ignored it. I was alive and still moving, so I kept going.

The dracaena, seeing that she couldn't use the bow, snarled and dropped it, deciding hand to hand was her best bet. A dracaenas claws are as sharp and precise as needle points.

The monster slithered forward, meeting my charge with a roar that was basically a drawn-out hiss.

As we were about to collide, I dropped right to try and get around her, but she was quick and smacked me away with her claws.

It threw me back and I landed a few meters away, tumbling through the grassy field and stopped just a few feet from the rock face.

 _Ouch! That felt like a war hammer hit me. Note to self, one trick doesn't always work on different opponents._

I struggled to get up and got on all fours trying to catch the breath that was knocked out of me.

 _Come on, get back at it girl!_ I thought to myself.

All of a sudden, the dracaena was right next to me; its claw around my neck, hoisting me up and then slammed me against the wall while still clutching my neck.

I felt pain all over my back as it was pushed against the hard rock and I struggled to breath.

"Paaathetic, you huntersss all think you are untouchable, jussst beausssse ssssome goddesssss picked you broken girlsssss up and told you that you are special. Well you're wrong, you are weak, (she slammed me against the rock as she finished) and blind, (and again) and you will die thissss night!" The dracaena spouted at my face, her fangs dripped with her venom.

The slamming made the back of my head go numb.

 _Was she rehearsing this speech in her spare time?_ I thought randomly, my mind having trouble focusing.

As the dracaena took in her moment of triumph, I took a quick glance at the situation around me.

Thalia had another body on the ground that was sizzling and looked like it had been overcooked, and another one that was slowly dissipating into ash.

But as for Thalia herself, she had a couple of arrows sticking out of her, one in the left arm and the other in the right calf.

She was still facing three wolves and another dracaena and didn't look like she could last much longer.

 _No help there, what about… Carson?!_

I glanced to Carson and did not like what I saw.

She was still breathing, but also still had the spear in her stomach and had an arrow stuck in her right shoulder.

She was as pale as a child of Hades and she was gazing up at the sky as if she was in a trance.

 _Damnit, she looks like the won't live another 30 seconds. And where the hell is Alice?_

Before I could find an answer to that question, the snake head that was currently squeezing the life out of me, started squeezing harder to get my attention.

 _Now what does she want to rant on to me about?!_

"The Wolf-Head ssssaid we need you alive, he never sssssaid it had to be in one piecceee." She said as she raised her other claw above my head, its outline blocking what little glow the clouded sky had, giving me the full view of it.

I was out of options, none of my friends could help me and I couldn't help them.

We had no help coming to our rescue, no one searching for us, and no one will probably even know what happened to us.

 _I can't let it end like this!_

"Go on! Pray to your goddessss that you passsss out quickly you vermin." The dracaena spouted.

 _Someone… Help._

As the dracaena's muscles contracted and prepared to strike; She snarled and showed her fangs, wiping out its serpent tongue along her teeth, relishing the coming meal.

I closed my eyes with tears coming out that I couldn't hold back even if I tried.

 _Help…Anyone…_

 **ROAR!**

 _What was that?_

 _And why am I not in pain yet?_

I opened one of my eyes to see what was happening.

The dracaena had stopped and froze in place with a look that had once been full of satisfaction and blood-filled lust to kill, was now covered in a look of confusion and… fear?

She turned her head to face the direction of the mighty sound, and I noticed her tensing up.

 _Why? What could scare a monster like her that badly?_

I followed the monsters gaze only to see a sight that astounded me.

There, just in front of the tree line, was a huge brown grizzly bear that was the size of a hummer standing on its back legs and growling furiously at the scene before it.

All of the commotion and battle seemed to have paused to look upon the newcomer that seemed to focus its glare on the werewolves and dracaenas.

An almost awkward feeling began to rise in the clearing as if a policeman had just walked into an alleyway and caught the neighborhood bullies beating up the weak kids red handed.

The pause was finally broken when a loud bark from one of the wolves brought everyone back into focus.

Right after that, two wolves moved from Thalia, who was also pinned by a dracaena and a wolf, to in front of the new beast.

The dracaena that had me pinned began to hiss at the giant bear.

"What doesssss that monsssstrossssity think it'ssss do…" A black arrow interrupted the snake headed monster as it protruded from the top of said head with a simple _thunk_.

As the monster disintegrated to ashes, I was released and fell to the ground heaving in a much-needed breath and coughing.

 _Where'd that come from?_

My eye caught the arrow lying in the grass, it was all black except for one of the three fletchings which was colored blue while the others were black like the rest of the arrow.

It wasn't an arrow used in the Hunt, those have silver arrow heads and silver marked fletching.

The next few moments passed in a daze.

More black arrows rained down from the top of the cliff wall and hit the enemies surrounding Thalia; killing the last dracaena and wounding the wolf that limply ran off into the woods somewhere.

The grizzly roared once again and charged the two wolves in front of it, the three huge animals began chomping, biting, and scratching at each other.

I took the distraction to glance at Carson and saw that girl who had been next to Mr. Mohawk kneeling down over her, she seemed to be doing something with her hands over Carson.

"No you don't!" I hissed out, my resolve set on protecting my friend.

I dragged myself up and made my way over to them to stop the girl from doing whatever she was doing to Carson.

It took me a few seconds to reach them as the numbness in the back of my head had yet to go away.

As I stumbled to them, I finally noticed that Carson no longer had the spear in her stomach and the arrow that was in her shoulder was gone too.

The girl was moving her arms hastily from Carson's stomach area to her side and back again, her arms were covered in blood. She seemed to be keeping all of her concentration on my friend to not even notice me.

I figured she must be trying to perform first-aid on her wounds.

 _Why would she help us, isn't she one of them?_ _No. Don't ask why, just help Carson. I can deal with the stranger after we save her._

It wasn't ideal to let an enemy treat your wounded, but when you have any other options, you took what you could get.

I finally reached them and slid down to the other side of Carson trying to see how it was going. If I had any food left in me, I would have lost it from how disgusting the scene was.

"How bad?" I asked, not bothering to waste time in hearing the stranger's explanations for helping in the first place.

"She's lost too much blood as it is, we need to close the wound somehow and get a transplant of blood for her." The girl said not even glancing away from her patient, then asked "Do you have any healing foods or know her blood type?"

"No, we ran out days ago, and I don't know her blood type; is there anything else we could use." I asked, shame filling me at my lack of personal knowledge I had on my own friends.

The girl simply shook her head in response, continuing her attempts to save my friend with a grievous expression.

" _Cough_ , _cough_ …it… hurts…" Carson mumbled, coughing up blood and her face cringing in pain.

"Stay with me Carson, come on, stay with me!" I pleaded.

There was more roars and screams from afar.

I glanced back at the battle between the bear and the wolves. The grizzly had one struggling wolf in its maw, the other was on its back trying to clamp its mouth on the bears neck.

The bear clamped its jaw, snapping the wolf in its mouth in two, then reached up and threw the second wolf off its back.

 _I never thought I'd be glad my stomach was empty, tonight has been-_

Suddenly there was a hand around my neck, choking me and lifting me up. Whatever had me pulled me away and threw me down face first into the stony dirt.

 _Seriously! Give me a break! How many times am I going to be shoved into something while having my neck grabbed?!_

"Lyra come, Akilah has ordered us to retreat! Leave that filth, she won't last another minute anyway. We can at least take this one along with the other back, they have to be good enough for our king." The unknown man said.

"Go to **hell!** " I screamed but earned only a punch or kick to the side of my waste that successfully shut me up and forced something out of my mouth, whether it was food, fluid, blood, or just air, I couldn't tell.

"Fucking wench! Lyra enough, lets go!" the man shouted.

"No Agus, I won't leave her here to die. Not if there is a chance that I could save her." The girl whose name was Lyra said with steely determination.

 _Why would you risk your life for us?_ I thought absently. _Never mind, this is my chance to strike while he's distracted._

I looked for something, anything to fight with and saw my hunting knife just in arms reach.

 _If there is a lady luck, I need to remember to send her a thank you card if I survive this._

As swift as I could manage, I grabbed the knife with my right hand while grabbing the man's hand that was around my neck with my left to hold in place.

Then quickly swiped the blade behind my neck and cut Agus's hand off from his arm (luckily, I avoided cutting my left arm as well).

Agus screeched in pain and held his now handless arm that oozed crimson.

"AAARRRGGG! You fucking hunter vermin!" he screamed at me, then with his other hand, grabbed my leg and swung me around like a bag, throwing me hard against the rock face.

Pain erupted throughout my body; I became dizzy and a loud, unstopping ring flooded my head.

I think I ended up on the ground, but I didn't even feel the impact. My left eyes vision became coated in red.

 _I can barely feel anything. Help me, someone please. Thalia? Carson? Artemis?_

I was facing up at the clouded night sky, barely able to see the tree tops; they looked so distant.

I could faintly hear screams to the side, but I didn't have the strength to look.

 _Was I breathing? I think I am, but I can't be sure_.

My attention was drawn to the crescent moon in the partly cloudy sky.

 _Wait… the moon?_

 _When did the clouds start to clear, and why didn't I notice the light from the moon sooner? Will Artemis come to help us now?_

I sent one last prayer her way just for kicks, but I began to feel a cold chill crawl up my spine. _Why do I feel cold?_

I don't know how long I laid there, a few seconds, minutes, or even an hour could have gone by and I'd hardly notice.

Suddenly there was a figure above me.

I couldn't make it out very well, but I think it had a bow in its hands with an arrow nocked, but then but the bow down and the arrow back in his quiver on its back.

It kneeled to me, for what, I couldn't say.

 _Please don't let it be the werewolf Agus come back to finish me._ I thought, but then remembered that the werewolf didn't have a bow before, and that I had cut his hand off.

I don't know why, but I sluggishly raised my hand and tried to speak to the figure to ask for help.

 _Help me…_

My mouth moved slightly with the words, but my voice would not work. I was so tired and weak from the days of running and fighting, my arm was shaking with the effort I made keeping it up.

I was about to give up and let my arm go limp, but then the figure grabbed my hand with its own at the last second.

 _It feels firm, but warm and gentle too._ I tried to focus on the figure more, but my vision was just getting blurrier.

"You're going to be okay, I promise." The figure said in a quiet male voice.

I don't know why, but those words seemed to relax me, and I finally gave in to the fatigue.

My eyes were slowly closing. _I shouldn't fall asleep, but I'm just too tired to fight it any longer._

The last thing I saw was another figure joining the one kneeling next to me on the other side of my body, it had a weird shape to its head.

 _Cat ears?_

After that, I gave in and fell into the realm of Morpheus. Hoping he will offer me warm dreams by the fire.

 **A/N – Little more vulgar in vocabulary than before, but I think it is a needed touch to get the point of the words across.**

 **Next –** Ch.3: A Final Hurrah


	3. A Final Hurrah

**Orphans of Legends**

 **CH-3:** A Final Hurrah

 **Thalia POV**

I need a new job; my current career choice is once again proving to be filled with too much stress and pain.

 _Ah who_ _am_ _I kidding, the Hunt would be lost without me. Maybe I should ask for a pay raise or something, if I ever survive that is._

Right now, my odds were not looking good.

I have two arrows stuck in me, one in my left arm that I only noticed when I saw the end tip with the ugly fletching.

The second is in the back of my right calf, now that one I felt. Aside from that I'm just _dandy_.

There are still these damned enemies currently surrounding me, that was an issue.

Three _Mutts_ and a stupid dracaena that I have yet to deal with.

 _Why is it, whenever I'm in a group and we are attacked, I end up with the most monsters to have to deal with? Guess the answer to that would be my dad, the big old king of Olympus himself_.

I'd have to curse my lineage another time, right now I'm probably about to die.

I was kneeling on the ground after I had barbecued another werewolf. That made the other enemies hesitant to come right at me.

I must have looked tougher than I felt, because I doubt I could pull off another light show.

After having no sleep for five days and having to fight off monster attacks and carrying Alice across these mountains, I'm worn out.

"What'ssss wrong huntressss, you look tired. Finally feeling all that effort come back at you?" the dracaena that had shot the arrow into my calf gloated.

"You sssshould ssssurrender now, all of your other ssssisssstersssss are defeated. If you do sssssurrender, I promissse to only eat one of your armsssss off." She drew back another arrow, aimed right at my head.

 _Do those things ever shut up!_

 _Out of all monsters, dracaenas never had anything new insults or threats! Always blabbing and spouting out the same shit: Die, give up, and/or suffer painfully. Get some new material for god's sake!_

I continued to glare at my opponents while also trying to keep them out of my blind spot.

My spear felt like it weighed 100 lbs. in my hand. I grunted and lifted my weapon up and stabbed the butt in the ground to help pull me up on my legs.

 _I've got to get up! Alright, on three. One, two, three!_

I pulled myself up and pain surged through my right leg, causing me to have a lengthy groan through my gritted teeth.

I was beyond the point of trying to look like the pain didn't bother me, all I thought about was to just keep fighting.

I finally got my balance on my good leg and positioned my spear in a defensive stance (or as best of one that I could manage). I probably looked like I was about to use a pole-vaulting stick to leap over them.

I glanced quickly around the clearing to see how the others were doing, and if they just happen to actually have a chance to survive.

From the looks of it, they didn't.

Faith was just grabbed by the neck and shoved onto the rock face by a dracaena, she tried to struggle but I doubt she'll escape.

I scanned for Carson and saw her lying on the ground, I nearly lost my rage at the sight of her.

She had a spear wedged in her gut that looked like it went all the way through into the ground.

 _No! Carson was not dying on my watch_. But then I noticed we were one girl short.

 _Where's Alice?_

A loud bark from one of the mutts broke my chain of thought.

"Give up huntresssss." The dracaena spewed out to me.

I couldn't afford to look for her, I have to keep my attention on the freaks in front of me. The wolves were starting to close in on me on all sides.

 _I guess this is the time for my last hurrah!_

I turned to the dracaena and breathed in deep, then shouted with more strength and pride than I ever thought I could muster at the time.

"I am Thalia, Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis, daughter of Zeus, and the one who is going to rip your serpent tongue out of your disgusting mouth so nobody else will have to listen to your sower ass voice again!" I spat at the snakehead, who seemed slightly taken aback by my show of strength.

Normally I'm not as boastful as this, but Jason had taught me that sometimes a last-minute boast can really get your adrenaline going and make you look very intimidating.

Monsters seem to do it all the time, so why not give them a taste of their own medicine?

I glanced at the werewolves and finally activated my shield _Aegis_ , to which they shifted back at the sight of Medusa's head on it.

"As for you _Mutts_ , I'm going to tear you apart, limb from limb, to the point they won't be able to tell which parts are from a wolf or a man!"

They merely growled at me, but also shifted more on their feet, telling me I was scaring them even if it was just a little.

"So… COME GET SOME!"

With that, I forced my spear to surge with all the electricity I could muster.

 _No point in holding back now. I've faced death more times than any normal demigod (except maybe old Kelp Head), and I'm not afraid to meet my end today._

The werewolves growled around me, baring their teeth and drooling over the thought of killing me.

"Hehehehehe! Whatever you sssssay, you hunter wench!" The dracaena said. The three wolves around me made ready to leap and satisfy their hunger for blood.

 _Here we g-_

A deafening roar stopped my thought, it seemed to vibrate off the very trees and ground.

I turned to its origin only to see a giant brown grizzly bear standing up at the forest edge and eyeing all the werewolves and dracaena hatefully.

 _What the… where'd you come from?_

While I was distracted, the dracaena came up behind me before I could notice and tripped me with her tail before I could react.

One of the wolves then jumped on me and loomed over me deliberately placed one of its back paws on my wounded calf, pressing down firmly.

"Hugh! Grrrrrr!" I breathed through gritted teeth and glared at the wolf. _Damn that hurts!_

My spear landed just out of reach and my shield was still attached to my arm but was facing the ground so it couldn't intimidate anyone.

The wolf above me, unlike the rest of the wolves, had a light grey coat of fur and growled without showing his teeth as if he was just giving me a warning.

His eyes were a light brown color that didn't show hate or hunger like the others. _At least I don't have to smell your breath._

The dracaena then leaned over pointing an arrow at my head before I could reach for my hunting knife.

"Move onccceeee, and I will end you, you filthy piecccceeee of-" Before she could finish, a wave of black arrows rained down from the top of the cliff.

Several hitting and (thankfully) killing the annoying snake mouth and a few hitting the wolf that was on top of me.

He whined and whimpered at the arrow in his back leg and limply ran off into the woods. Whoever fired those shots either has good aim or was lucky enough to not hit me.

For a few seconds (or minutes, I couldn't really tell) I just laid there, too shocked to do anything at that moment except try and get my breath back.

 _What. The Hell. Just Happened?_

After another second, I forced myself up to where I was sitting, I looked to see what had happened.

I had to fight back against the huge migraine that was currently weighing me down and making it hard to think straight. It must have been the blood loss starting to affect me.

The enemy had apparently retreated because I didn't see them (wolfmen or snake heads).

I heard growling behind me and turned to see the grizzly walking along the tree line looking into its depths as if it was daring anything to try and come out and challenge it.

Without taking my eyes off the fearsome beast, I moved my right hand along the ground and found my spear. I winced at the pain I felt in my shoulder from the arrow that was still sticking out of it.

I again used my spear to help me up while still looking at the bear.

 _Are you a nice bear who likes to protect unsuspecting victims of wolf attacks or are you just hungry for a fight?_ I asked it in my head.

After seeing that the bear was too preoccupied with watching the forest, I looked around to try to locate my Hunters.

That's when I saw them. Both Carson and Faith, lying on the ground, motionless.

 _No. No, no… please no. Not again!_

I promised myself that I would never allow another fight like Cuba to happen to my Hunters again. I noticed Carson had someone kneeling over her, it looked like a girl.

I began to stumble towards her, but the pain in my leg was unrelenting and wouldn't let me take another step.

I was able to lean on my spear to keep me standing. The pain was so bad, I felt my teeth ache at how much force I was clenching them together with.

I looked at Faith and saw that someone had come to her side as well, then back to looking at Carson and the girl over her.

I didn't know who these people were, but I had to guess they were here to help; or at the very least, they weren't going to kill us.

But before I let relief fill me even a little, I noticed that the girl that was over Carson was the same one who had been alongside that man the mohawk.

I was filled with a new found rage that blinded me from all the pain and lightheadedness I had felt just moments before. _You won't touch her! Get away from her!_

Out of complete fury and anger, I lifted my spear up while somehow balancing on my good leg, took aim, and prepared to strike at the girl who for all I know, could have been collecting a war prize.

"Stop." A firm female voice said from behind me.

 _Now what!?_

In a swift move I swung my spear around, using the momentum to turn my body, presenting my shield forward and leveled my spear ready to strike at a moment's notice, only to have my spear come to within an inch of a woman's face.

She didn't even seem to flinch at my attack or my shield. I unconsciously held my breath as I looked over this new person.

She wore a thin brown leather coat that was unzipped over a green shirt with gold fur on its collar. Her black pants looked tight fitting and had pockets on the thighs.

She looked to be in her mid to late 20's with eyes that were a mesmerizing green and reminded me of the eyes of a cat's.

Her hair was a dark shade of blonde, neck length, and had a wild look that at the same time also looked naturally beautiful like the main of a lion.

What really caught me off guard was the tall, furry cat ears on her head.

 _Wait, what? Cat ears?_ _That's a new one,_ I thought.

Now I've seen a lot of strange things in my life, but this person was the first to have feline characteristics to them.

"Calm yourself huntress, you and your friend are safe. That girl behind you is tending to her wounds." The woman said in a calm and unthreatening voice, her body posture was relaxed and unthreatening.

My eyes gave the girl a once-over and I noticed the sheathed knife at her waist, the bow in her hand, and a quiver of arrows on her back; the bow was beautifully crafted and looked more like it was meant to be a wall decoration rather than actual use.

She actually reminded me of Artemis, if she ever had a feline side to her and used her older looking form that she only used for meetings on Olympus on occasion.

She also reminded me of someone else that I couldn't put my finger on. _I swear I've seen those green eyes before._

I also noticed another figure in my peripheral. It looked to be a boy standing to the side of the woman.

He was wearing a strange type of reddish-brown chest armor that look like it fit his figure well and was made of a hard leather over a blue shirt.

He was holding a spear at his side with a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back.

I couldn't make out his face, but he had messy black hair that reminded me a little of Percy's old hair style.

He seemed to be observing me, waiting for whatever I might do, but didn't seem worried that I had a spear barley an inch away from his friend.

Back to the girl I almost impaled through the eye, the feeling I got off from her said she didn't mean any harm, so I lowered my spear and began to try and control my breathing to slow my beating heart.

The adrenaline and power I had been relying on slowly faded away and my eyesight began to become fuzzy.

Suddenly, a flood of exhaustion over took me from all the fighting and running I had been through the past week. This last fight had been fueled by pure rage, and now I've got nothing left in me.

"Who…" I began but my dry throat caught my words.

My body swayed as my mind was overcome with dizziness, my limbs began to go numb and I couldn't even feel the pain from my wounds.

My spear fell out of my hands and I lost whatever balance I had left as I started falling forward.

I was quickly caught and lowered to the ground by the cat eared girl who gently placed my body on the ground while holding my upper body caringly.

Her touch was comforting, and I felt safe in her arms; safer than I had in a what felt like forever. My eyes focused a little and I saw her looking down at me with… pride?

It felt strange, thinking someone would be proud of me. Right now, 'proud' was the last feeling I had towards myself considering how shitty everything went, but she seemed to not care.

"You have fought well young huntress. Now rest, my people and I will see to the safety of you and your Hunters." The woman whispered to me as I was becoming more tired by the second.

I fought my urge to pass out, there were still so many questions I needed answered.

I took a deep break and exhale and looked up to the woman who held me comforting in her arms, "Wh-who are you?"

It was the one and only question that came to mind.

The girl gave me a friendly smile, her cat ears twitching slightly.

"My name is Atalanta, and it is an honor to finally meet you, young Thalia." _Atalanta huh, that sounds… familiar? How does she know my name?_

Before I could ask any more questions, she interrupted me.

"Rest now young one, there will be another chance for questions later."

I was too weak to argue with her. The pain was beginning to pull me into unconsciousness and as much as I would have liked to stay awake to make sure my friends were safe, I was really frickin tired of today, tomorrow couldn't be any worse.

So, I gave in; finally letting sleep over take me and I sent a silent prayer to Morpheus, asking him to grant me a long and dreamless sleep for once.

Sadly, he didn't

 **LINEBREAK**

 **Lyra POV**

This was not how it was supposed to happen.

 _We were supposed to simply capture these Hunters, not slaughter them! What was father thinking!?_

I was still trying to stop the bleeding of the hunter that was called Carson.

I would have gone to check on that girl that Agus had taken but I couldn't afford to move away from my current patient.

But despite all my efforts, she was getting worse.

The spear I removed must have caused severe internal bleeding, the wound from the arrow was unending in its own problems as well as numerous other wounds that looked like they had been partially tended to but were now reopening.

At this point it was hard to say which were new and which were not.

My skills as a medic might be acceptable in the eyes of mother and father, but I am far from being a trained tribal healer.

Regardless, I continued to press my hands against the girls wound. My hands covered in blood from my attempts to save her, but without any healing rocks or other magical ways of healing… there wasn't anything more I could do.

I cringed as I heard her groaning and coughing, but I dared not to look her in the eyes. I was afraid of what the girl might see on my face; inevitable as it may be, I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth.

 _She's not going to make it. Not at this rate of-_

My thoughts halted as I felt the cold and sharp sting of a metal blade on my neck.

I glanced down and saw that it was some type of spear with a 15-inch curved blade at the end, it looked more like it was better suited for swiping at an opponent rather than stabbing like most spears.

"Looks like this one here decided not to run." A snarky voice that sounded like a girls said to my left.

My eyes followed the shaft till I saw who had spoken only to rest my eyes on a young girl who couldn't have been more than 15 years old.

She wore fitting maroon leather chest armor with a golden skinny horse insignia on the right breast portion.

She looked to be of Eastern Asian heritage, with shoulder length black hair that had streaks of bright orange in it.

Her eyes were heavy with mascara and her black lips bore a devious smirk that looked almost evil. _Does she not see the wounded girl below me?_

I was about to tell her what I was doing before someone else beat me to it.

"Jaclyn, leave her be. She's just trying to help that girl. Come get this one mounted and take her to the infirmary as quickly as possible, Jack will help you." I couldn't see the speaker, but her voice held a heavy tone of authority to it.

The girl called Jaclyn took one last glance at me and huffed in annoyance before she finally removed the blade from my neck.

"I guess it's your lucky day, but you better watch your back bitch." She warned as she left to attend to what she had been ordered to do.

I looked back to where she was going and saw the other hunter father had named as the Hunts lieutenant.

She was being treated by a boy in similar style armor to the Jaclyn girl. I couldn't see the person who had told her to leave me alone.

 _Who are these people?_

Before I could think or speak or think any more questions, I felt a hand rest on mine; I looked down to see who had gripped my attention only to see it was my patient.

She had placed one of her hands over my own as I was clasping her wounded stomach. Her hand was weak and light of strength, but it tugged on my hands slightly as if trying to get my attention.

I took in a deep breath and held it, mentally preparing myself, then turned my gaze to her face only to be met with a pair of pained yet calculating grey eyes.

She looked at me pleadingly as if asking _me_ to stop giving her pain, the fact that I was basically useless brought tears of sadness and grief began to fall out of my eyes.

"I'm sorry." Was all I could say to her. "I'm so very sorry."

The girls face screamed confusion and then morphed into one of fear, realizing her fate and that I had no way of saving her.

Her breath hitched over and over as tears streamed out of her eyes.

But not long after, her face changed as if she accepted her fate and gave me a sympathetic smile as if to say it wasn't my fault. _But it IS my fault!_

I then released the tension on her stomach (there's no point in continuing) and moved so that I was sit-kneeling on my legs and placed the girls head on my lap.

 _I might not be able to save you, but I won't let you die alone._

The girl looked confused for a few moments at my action, not understanding what I was doing.

I reached over to my pack and I took out a small file filled with a dark green liquid that looked almost as bad as I knew it tasted.

 _It's my second to last one, but she_ _now it needs_ _a hell of a lot more than I or any of the others might need later._

I opened the vile and held it over her mouth. "Drink this, it will help with the pain."

She tensed even more, her breathing still irregular but she still had enough oxygen for her brain to guess that I was not trustworthy.

But eventually, she gave in from the pain and opened her mouth, allowing me to pour the liquid medicine.

As I expected, she cringed at the taste, but swallowed it. She began coughing up from having to swallow such a bad tasting thing.

Thankfully, the herbal medicine did its work, and she noticeably relaxed, her breathing became more controlled, but the blood still poured at the same rate as before.

After a few seconds of her simply breathing deeply, I began stroking her hair on reflex to try and comfort her further.

 _It won't be long now, soon you can rest._ I thought as tears began forming in my eyes that I tried to hold back. _No, not yet, I don't deserve to cry yet._

The girl opened her eyes again and looked me directly into my own. She tried to speak, but her voice no longer worked for her.

She instead moved her hand and placed it over mine by the side of her head and mouthed the words _thank you_.

A tear landed on the girls' cheek, making me realize my effort to control myself had failed.

I gave her one last comforting smile as she slowly closed her eyes for the last time. Her breathing slowed until it stopped, and her hand dropped from mine and fell to the ground, motionless.

The brave huntress had finally passed away.

And that was it, I could no longer hold back the tears of grief and guilt; I sobbed over a girl I did not know, someone I was supposed to call an enemy, but had wished to save none-the-less.

 _It was our fault she had died! Why had father trusted the members of that barbaric pack?_

As I continued to mourn the girl, I heard someone walk up and stand next to me.

I looked up through the tears in my eyes to see a tall woman with cat ears looking over the scene before her. "What happened?"

I sniffled slightly and said in a broken voice, "I-I couldn't ...I couldn't..."

My voice failed me, and I turned back down; continuing to cry.

The women must have realized what had happened, and kneeled down beside me, I forced my eyes to look at her and saw a similar face of sadness and sympathy.

"It is alright, you did what you could for her in the end." the woman said.

I recognized it as the voice that commanded the girl with the orange highlights to leave me alone. She must be the leader of these people.

She reached down to the dead hunter and placed a hand on her forehead.

She closed her eyes and began reciting words that sounded like some type of blessing in a language that, even though I couldn't understand, I recognized as an ancient dialect of Greece.

Her body glowed a dark gold and seemed to flow into the dead hunters' body, illuminating the skin as if it was more alive than it ever had been; but the glow faded as quickly as it came, and the skin returned to its lifeless color.

It might have been my imagination, but the huntress looked more peaceful than she had a few seconds ago.

She looked like she hadn't died in such pain but had passed from old age like all people must eventually.

I looked to the woman confused. "What was that?" I asked.

"A parting gift, now she will have my recommendation when she reserves judgment. She had fought valiantly to the end." The woman said while continuing to look at the hunter.

 _If she has the ability to do that, then she must be a goddess of some kind._ I thought as I gave the cat eared woman a closer look.

Her bow and arrows caused a surge of worry to crawl up my spine. _Is she Artemis?_

 _Once she learns what I did here, she will no doubt curse me to the deepest pit of torture they have!_

If she could sense my sudden rise of fear, she either didn't show it or didn't care; all her focus was on her dead huntress below us.

We sat there for a minute longer in silence, before she turned her green cat eyes to me.

"Now, who might you be? You do not have the aura of a hunter." She said, her hand hovering over a sheathed dagger on her leg.

 _If she can sense that, then she is definitely Artemis, but I never heard of her having cat ears. An effect of the modern area perhaps?_

"I'm not one of them, I was…" I paused for a moment, a realization coming to me.

 _If she is Artemis, wouldn't she already know I wasn't a hunter?_

The woman (supposedly Artemis) dawned a look of inquisition as she stood up, her eyes never leaving me.

"It would be best if you spoke the truth now rather than having me find out later." the woman warned noticing my hesitation.

 _Might as well just tell them 'some' of the truth._

I took a breath and began; "I was a part of the group that was sent to capture these Hunters." I confessed.

The woman barely batted an eye at my answer, her cat ears were pointed tall and focused entirely on me.

"What were you doing here with those werewolves and dracaenas?" The woman asked.

I tried to think of an easier way to say it that would not result in me possibly dying or being tortured in eternal punishment.

Before I could answer again, the woman dawned a look of realization. "You're a werewolf, aren't you?" she said.

Her assumption was right on the mark, but I wasn't too surprised that she had pieced it together. _Grandmother always said the goddesses of Greece tended to be intuitive._

I nodded my head in shame, not seeing any reason to deny my heritage.

Normally, I'd be proud to be called what I am; I used to run all around our camps shouting out when I changed from human to wolf, it brought me happiness.

But tonight, with the dead huntress on my lap, I didn't feel proud at all. I felt depressed and angry at what we were made to do because of that vulgar king that has more in common with a hyaena than one of us.

The woman's eyes widened ever slightly in surprise and then became more hostile instantly.

"You do not smell like the others that I've fought before, which means you're not from Lycaons pack." She spoke as if she had no doubt in her words, this woman was nothing if not deductive.

I kept my mouth shut and decided to avoid eye contact with her for fear of her being able to look into my soul. Grandmother spared no dramatics in her stories of the Greeks and their trickery.

"What is your name then?" she finally asked me after a quiet silence.

It took me a few seconds but eventually I answered. "My name is Lyra, I am not associated with Lycaons pack Lady Artemis." _The thought of being in the same room as that mongrel made me sick._

"I humbly beg for your forgiveness, my family and I… we got dragged into this by Lycaon, but we never meant any harm to-"

"That's enough." She interrupted, "Whether you were forced into this act is meaningless at the moment. What matters is seeing to the safety of the surviving hunters."

Her tone was firm and absolute, it made me feel foolish for making this situation more about my problems than what really mattered.

 _I suppose I should prepare for whatever future punishment I will no doubt be-_

"And I am not Artemis." She said making me look up quickly; her hostile gaze lessened, if only for a little. _If she's not Artemis, then who is she?_

"So, you are not from _his_ pack?" She asked, moving on from my assumption. I nodded in response; she looked to be in thought for a moment before continuing.

"Then where exactly _do_ you come from?" she asked, her free hand now on her hip.

 _I was afraid she'd ask that. What am I supposed to say to that?_

"It's a… complicated story." It was all I could think to say, loyalty was a trait my family took extremely seriously, I couldn't just explain everything to someone I didn't know.

The woman peaked an eyebrow at my response, as if she was saying: _seriously?_ She sighed and looked once again at the dead hunter.

"Well, you'll have to tell us later; we have many things to do, so I'll put getting answers from you on hold… for now." she said casually.

 _Wait, are they going to take me with them?_ I'd already disobeyed my Alphas orders by staying and trying to save the hunter, I couldn't add 'got captured' to the list _._

"I'm sorry, but I can't go with you, I need to get back to-" She then interrupted me with a firm voice yet again.

"I think not! You were a part of the group that attacked these Hunters. It doesn't matter whether you meant them any harm yourself, your presence here requires a good explanation." she said firmly.

"Despite your efforts to try and save this one here." She gestured to the girl. "I will not simply allow you to leave without giving me some clear answers as to what is going on."

I was about to argue further but then there was a deep growl from behind me and I looked to see the grizzly hovering over my shoulder, looking at me as if it was saying: " _Don't even think about arguing."_

I looked again at the woman and sighed in defeat.

 _Father is not going to like this._

 **A/N –I hope these shorter chapters are working out well.**

 **Next –** Ch. 4: The Welcome Mat


	4. The Welcome Mat

**Legacy: Orphans of Legends**

 **CH – 4:** The Welcome Mat

 **Thaddeus POV**

The girls light blue eyes were full of fear and pain as she slowly reached her trembling hand up, her mouth moving like she was trying to say something but was too weak to form the words.

Her skin was pale, and blood dripped down from her forehead over her eye, probably making her almost blind. It was a wonder she even saw me at all.

Her arm was shaking with the effort it took to hold it up and her breath was shallow and unsteady.

Her arm strength broke and became limp. But before it could fall, I grasped her hand with mine, keeping a firm yet gentle hold so it wouldn't slip out.

She seemed to hitch at my hand, as if not expecting anyone would have taken it at all.

"You're going to be okay, I promise." I said, trying my very best to comfort her.

Her eyes seemed to soften at my words, she took a deep breath, finally seeming to regain control of her lungs.

I heard a set of feet stop next to me and I knew it was Atalanta, she carried a scent of wild flowers wherever she went. She kept quiet though; choosing to let the moment pass in peace.

The girl breathed a few more deep breaths and finally let her fatigue overtake her and drifted off into unconsciousness.

I looked over to Atalanta who had knelt down on her knee, she gave me a questioning look and nodded at the girl.

"She'll be alright; no open wounds, probably has a head injury from the rocks. I'll take her back to the infirmary on Blue." I said.

She nodded, relief evident on her face. "Alright but be careful with her. Head wounds are still serious." She reminded me and I nodded in understanding.

She got up to probably go check on the others. I turned back to the wounded girl and quickly realized I was still holding her soft hand in my own.

Praying to the gods that Atalanta hadn't noticed that little slip up, I placed her hand to her side and began checking her for serious wounds.

She was covered in bruises on the parts of her skin that was visible, no doubt she had more all over her body.

Her neck looked especially nasty, looking like it had a bruise from being choked by a rope.

There was a cut on her left cheek that was bleeding down her chin and neck, and then there was the hit on her head that was bleeding slowly onto her dark hair.

She looked like someone had used her as a baseball bat and then a punching bag.

 _Did she even understand me?_ I wondered randomly while I went through the motions of first aid that I had drilled into me.

 _Maybe she did, she seemed to have a look of relief before she passed out so... I hope she did._

I dug into my personal first aid kit I kept on my belt and took out gauge that was coated in nectar and some tape bandages.

I began to slowly and carefully wrap her head to stop the bleeding and bandaged the cut on the cheek.

Her bruises, while extreme, would have to wait till I got her to the infirmary so Jane could treat her.

 _She looks so fragile like this._ I thought.

Then I remembered how she had severed that werewolves hand off while he held her 'face-down' by the neck with said hand. The memory put a smirk on my face.

 _Hunters really are tougher than they look._

After I finished, I glanced over to see how the others were doing.

Jack and Jaclyn where currently mounting the hunter with the short, spiky black hair onto Jaclyn's horse, Old Red. She looked to be even more beat up than the girl I was treating.

As for the last hunter, her head was lying on the Native girl who was trying to help her.

She had Atalanta standing from above and Callie, our mighty grizzly friend, lingering over behind giving a threatening glare. _She must've needed some convincing in coming with us._

I glanced up at the ridge and spotted Alex keeping an eye on the tree line, his crossbow loaded and ready. 

_Well, I better get a move on too._

Looking back at the girl at my feet and seeing nothing else needing bandaged, I stood up, brought my right hand to my mouth, and whistled out into the forest.

Almost 3 full seconds later, outcomes Blue galloping out of the trees and stopping next to me.

"Hey girl. Think you could walk gently with her on your back?" I asked, petting her head and cheek.

She neighed then bowed her head slightly giving me the okay. "That's my girl."

Blue was a magnificent stallion, with a coat of black that had a bluish tint to it, hence her name.

The only parts not black was her snout had a white line going from her nose to the top of her head, and her front right leg that had a white sock up to her ankle.

I walked her over and she stood next to the girl, then kneeled down slowly and rested on her knees.

 _Smartest horse in the world right here!_

I kneeled and picked the girl up bridal style, careful not to be too rough with her and placed her on my saddle.

I carefully put her head on Blue's neck with her injured side facing the sky. Carefully as I could, I tied the girl with a rope around her waist to the saddle to keep her from falling off.

It wasn't the most comfortable form of transport, especially with injuries like hers, but it was all we had to work with at the moment.

I took this time to inspect the girls' clothing.

She wore the remains of a silver camo hunting jacket with zipper pockets on the sides of the upper arms. Her pants were grey and looked to be made of a light nylon material, with pockets on the side of the thighs. Her shoes looked to be lightweight hiking boots.

Overall, her clothing looked like they'd been burned, chewed, and ripped all at once.

"Alright girl, up." I commanded Blue while tapping her neck and she slowly rose up to her full height.

I grabbed my recurve bow that I set down to treat the girl, then took Blue's reins and began to lead her over to where the others were but stopped when I stepped on something.

Looking down, I saw a knife that looked to be a military style and was made of a shining silver steel.

Picking it up, I noticed the blood on it that was still fresh; guessing who it belonged to, I glanced to the girl on my horse.

It must have been the one she used in the battle. I smirked remembering how quick she acted with it despite her injuries.

I slipped it into my side satchel that was attached to the saddle, knowing she'd probably want it back, then resumed heading to the others.

Jaclyn was standing by her horse with the other huntress resting on him. The girl had a similar getup as the one on Blue, except she wore a silver metal circlet on her head.

I couldn't say what it meant, but I would guess she was the leader of the group.

Alex was tying the _supposed_ enemy girl's hands in front of her. The girl looked to be Native American with brown hair braided down her back, she wore a black poncho with unique red designs of various animals.

Most of her was covered in blood; She looked to be around my age of 19 to 20 and had a look of shame and guilt on her face.

 _Was getting captured really that bad?_ I wondered.

Then I noticed the body on the back of Jack's horse had a blanket over it, and realized she must have failed to save her.

Then Atalanta came walking over from the tree line. "Is everyone ready?" she asked. We all gave her various answers of yes, with me only nodding.

"Good. I'll be leaving to track those monsters, but you all get these Hunters to Jane as soon as you get back." She said as she was checking her own gear.

"Why?" Alex asked.

"The enemy has taken the last hunter hostage. I'm going to see if I can find her and bring her back. If not that, then at least I might find out who they are and where they came from." She said.

"You sure you'll be okay on your own? These guys looked tuff." Alex asked.

Out of all of us, Alex was the one who tended to ask the most about planning and such. He was a lot like what I'd imagine children of Athena would be, intuitive and inquisitive.

"I'll be fine Alex, you just see to the safety of these Hunters here. If I am not back by the time they wake up, have Jane be the one to talk to them, try and get whatever information you can, but be respectful! Hunters are not trusting of others." Atalanta said to everyone, but her gaze finished with Alex who gave her an understanding nod.

After a quick good-bye to the others, Atalanta came over to me, a small smile on her face that I had learned never to doubt.

"Be careful out there." I said to her.

She just smiled wider and put her hand on my shoulder. "I will; try to get along with these hunters while I'm gone, they won't be easy to talk to." She said in a joking tone.

"Ha! They can't be any worse than I was. Right?" I asked, which she huffed at.

"You may be surprised how similar they may be to you. Just try to get along with them." She said.

"I'll do what I can." I stated. She seemed satisfied and nodded approvingly.

Turning her attention to the woods, the Goddess sprinted into the forest in search of the lost hunter. As she disappeared, her form was replaced with a giant cat leaping through the woods.

"Think she'll find her?" Alex asked as he watched her leave.

"How do you think she found us? She's the Goddess of lost children numbnuts! Of course she'll find her!" Jaclyn vigorously responded. _Snarky as always._

Alex just rolled his eyes at her usual condescension, but a slight blush showed on his cheeks from forgetting that little detail.

 _Well, ask a stupid question._

We took one more sweep of the battlefield and secured any weapons left, then we began the walk back to the entrance.

As we walked, there was little talk between us. It had been an early wake-up for us and our adrenaline was wearing off from the fast movement.

Alex chose to walk next to the prisoner and try to talk to her, asking for her story but was having little success in getting anything beyond a glare or a shake of the head.

 _Shame, he really looks like he's trying to start a conversation with her._

I noticed Jaclyn was also glaring his way with a look of…jealousy? I turned to look ahead so she wouldn't catch the smirk on my face.

 _She should just go for it if she is going to react to something as little as him trying to_ _make conversation_ _with another girl. That girl is just an endless string of confusion, but then again, what do I know?_

Jack, meanwhile, was walking along with his horse, Auburn, at the rear of the group; quietly as always.

Callie was walking next to him keeping him company while also watching our backs. _Ever the protective momma bear._

I was at the head of the group keeping an eye out for anything. I wouldn't feel safe till I was back in the valley, safe and sound.

It must have been nearing dawn as I could see the sky begin to brighten in the East which was a relief to me, I prefer day over night. It always seemed too quiet during the night time.

As we descended into the valley below, we walked along a forest path that lead down to the lowest point in the mountain size wall that offered our little world both protection and privacy from the outside.

 _Which reminds me, it's my turn to clean Athos's shrine this week._

As we got closer to our destination, I began to hear the familiar rumbling sound of a waterfall.

A few minutes later, we came to a clearing that showed a wide rapid river that continued down through the mountains. The river was fed by a waterfall that came from the top of the cliff wall.

As we approached the spot where the falls met the river, a watery figure appeared turning into the familiar face of Scamander, the self-proclaimed guardian of the hidden entrance, standing knee deep in the river.

He was a man who looked to be in his 60's wearing water waders, a fishing vest with all types of hooks, lures, and bobbers; and a fishing hat that said Poseidon's Fishing Club with a pair of old sunglasses on its brim.

His face was one of patience and calmness with his misty eyes that would have made most believe him to be blind but was far from it. His grey-haired sideburns reached down to his chin, the hairs looking much like the waterfall behind him.

He held a long fishing rod in his hands with the line already cast and bobbing around the river, waiting for a good trout or salmon or bass or… well, whatever else there was in a river.

Upon noticing us, a kind smile grew on his face, showing off his _purely whites_.

"Top of the morning to you fellas! I'm surprised to see you so soon, thought you wouldn't be back till later today." He said as he reeled in his line.

"Good morning to you too Wader." I replied to the man who laughed lightly at my nickname for him.

"Well how did it go out there? I don't see Atalanta with you." He said looking us over, then his eyes settled on the prisoner and the other 'visitors' we had with us on horseback and then his look quickly turned to one of both questioning and annoyance.

Scamander was… hard to pin down sometimes. More often he was okay to get along with, but he tended to take his job a little too intensely.

 _I bet he would really hit it off with Terminus, they could both spend hours on end lecturing about the proper_ _edicate_ _for_ _border_ _defense._

"And who is this girl you have tied up? As well as the others on the horses?" he asked, his fishing rod morphing into a deep-sea fishing spear hook.

 _And there he goes getting all defensive._

If there is one thing Scamander pays attention to, it's security. That, and the latest gear from Big Bass Pro Shop, and the latest issue of Atlantis Fishing Surplus.

Alex was the first to step up to answer him.

"Atalanta brought us out to help a group of four girls belonging to the Hunters of Artemis, the girl tied up belongs to another group that attacked them." He said gesturing to the girl who was trying her best to not be too obvious.

Scamander looked the girl over quickly, then nodded for Alex to continue.

"After the fight, we found out that the enemy had taken one of the Hunters so Atalanta left to try and catch them." Alex finished, though Scamander looked like he was still expecting more.

"And…?" He queried with a hand wave, causing Alex to look stumped as to what else there was to say and making Wader look extremely irritated.

" _Sigh_ … Do you even know why they were being chased, or better yet; who exactly they were running from?"

"Well… no, we don't know who or why. But they were werewolves so that has to narrow it down a bit."

"Werewolves!?" Scamander shouted, making Alex flinch.

He looked like he was about to freak out but reigned in his sanity and calm himself down after a couple of breaths.

 _Guess the weekly stress classes are paying off for the guy._

"How many of those Hunters did you recover?" He asked after recovering himself.

"Three… well, two; we lost one." Alex admitted with a saddened glance back to Jacks horse, though it didn't even come close to the look of guilt our prisoner had.

"The others are unconscious and need to get to the infirmary." He finished.

"I see." Was all Scamander said, then paused for a few seconds of thought before continuing.

"And why should I allow this prisoner, as well as those last two surviving Hunters, to enter? Once they recover, they'll undoubtedly report us to Artemis; and from her, to Olympus." Alex looked baffled by Scamander's question, but I wasn't surprised.

 _Of course, he'd be worried about that. It's always 'keeping secret's secret' for the last millennia with this guy._ I thought, then I decided a little more force was needed.

"Their hurt, weak, and alone out here; we can't just turn a blind eye." I said before Alex could answer before me.

He has his good moments as a leader, but he tends to be more of a loyal follower; Preferring to not argue or aggravate his superiors.

Scamander folded his arms at my reasoning, probably knowing I was right.

"That may be, but my _experience_ has shown that when opening your gates, you should take caution with everything you allow to enter." His words of wisdom caused nothing but sighing from me.

 _As wise as they may be, this situation is different from the 'experience' Scamander is no doubt referring to._

I knew arguing like this was a waste of time, but the sooner we convince him, the sooner we can get the hunters to-

"Hate to break up this little match boys, but we have orders from Atalanta herself to bring the wounded Hunters to Jane, so like it or not Scamy, your letting us in." Jaclyn stated.

"Or would you want to be the one to tell Atalanta that two girls died because of your stupid distrust of others?!" _Ohhhhhh_ _… yeah, she definitely struck a nerve with that one._

Scamander's anger at Jaclyn was more than evident as the river rapids became more, well; rapid.

He grumbled a response that definitely had a few curses in it but didn't look like he was going to fight us anymore.

Then he nodded at the prisoner, "And what of her?"

"Atalanta wants answers, she's our best source." Jaclyn said.

Scamander thought for a second then nodded. "Fine, but she'll have to be blindfolded."

Alex nodded, then took out a red bandana he always carried. The girl in question became more nervous and shuffled away slightly at the action.

Noticing her reaction, Alex tried to calm her down.

"It's okay, this is just a security precaution. Once we get where it's okay, I'll take it off." He said to her, his voice softer than before. She looked to be thinking about it for a second, then nodded for him to continue.

While he tied the knot, I glanced at Jaclyn knowing her reaction would be entertaining.

 _Yup, she looks about ready to melt rock with that evil glare of hers._

Jack also noticed the reaction and looked at me knowingly through his blue tinted glasses, and we shared a silent laugh.

Jack was a mute, so he usually kept to himself out of habit. He was a kind and gentle person, so he got along with most people.

He was 16(I think) with short, messy black hair and coffee-brown eyes that he kept hidden behind blue tinted lenses glasses for reasons he kept to himself; he wasn't blind without them, so I guessed it was just his preference.

His skin was paler than the average person, colder too. I once gave him a hand up and my hand felt like it was touching something right out of the refrigerator. My guess is he lived up north for most of his life.

Back to now; after the prisoner had been blinded, I turned back to Scamander.

"We good now?" I asked, my tone telling him it wasn't really a question.

He sighed and nodded, then turned to face the falls and reached out both his arms as if he was reaching out to catch someone in them and began chanting in some ancient Greek.

The water began swirling and churning around the river god, as if it was building up energy.

I smirked knowing the awesome scene that was about to happen.

"This never gets old." I stated openly making everyone grin.

Then Scamander finished chanting and quickly lifted his spear hook up with both hands and smashed it down into the water.

The river rose up in reaction, like a rug being pushed in on itself, creating a curved tunnel leading from the shoreline, then arcing up river to the falls.

The water continued to flow over the newly made tunnel, making it look like we were going to enter an aquarium tunnel.

After he was finished, Scamander looked back at us and motioned for us to go through the tunnel of water.

Seeing as how I was the closest, I lead Blue in first.

Are horses have gone in and out of the valley since they were colts, so they were not afraid of the spectacle before us.

As I walked through, I kinda felt like I was in a blender that was inside out.

There were bubbles and swirls everywhere, the sound of the falls seemed to vibrate the ground, I even spotted a few large fish swimming over us heading straight for the falls.

Even better was at this exact moment, the first rays of the sun were reaching over the horizon and shone through the water, ensuing in a kaleidoscope of bright red oranges.

I always found the sensation calming, while mostly everyone else just thought it was a little intense. _Wimps._

I glanced back at everyone to see how they were following along.

All except Alex were okay, he was looking a little shaky, focusing his hardest on pebbled ground.

I remembered Alex mentioning that he was claustrophobic the first time we brought him through, Atalanta had me hold his hand with her holding the other.

 _That wasn't awkward for me at all… (Sarcasm if that's not obvious)._

Jaclyn noticed it too and rolled her eyes but smiled, grabbing his arm through hers and leading him through while he had his eyes closed.

While I'm sure she'd never say the word, Jaclyn probably thought his phobia was cute.

Callie looked to have stayed behind, she often preferred to wander around the outside of the borders. But she does like to come in the valley from time to time to relax and play with the Ranchers.

As we came up to the end of the tunnel that went under the falls, it opened up into a cavern behind it; it was largely spacious and could fit a baker's dozen worth at least.

Scamander followed us in last, the tunnel automatically closing behind him, allowing the thunderous water to flow regularly and sealing us in.

Thankfully the cavern was lit automatically by some sort of glowing algae that I could only guess where Scamander had found (or made).

"Alrighty then, you know the way from here. Remember to take extra precautions with not only the prisoner, but especially those Hunters, they tend to lean more towards shoot first and ask later. Especially with men." He said eyeing all except Jaclyn who smirked, liking the idea.

"And! In the high probability that this can and will end badly for us all, I will take it upon myself to say I told you so." he chided, earning nothing but eyerolls all around.

He turned back to enter the falls but stopped mid-spin.

"Oh, and if I were you. I'd tread lightly when telling Actaeon of their involvement." We all gave him a confused look which seemed to ask our questions before we even said it.

"Let's just say he has a somewhat… 'complicated' history with their patron, I'll leave it at that. Tell Jane I said hello, won't you?" He finished with a two finger salute as he turned and walked into the thundering waters as if it was a light sprinkle to him.

"Anyone know anything about what he just said?" Alex asked, looking like his brain was wracking the warning through his gears.

"Nope. Can we go home now? I'm starving." Jaclyn replied simply.

I turned to the caverns back wall and spoke the command words: "Lambda, Custer, Wheat."

The rocks on the wall rumbled as they rearranged themselves until they formed a large opening into darkness that was illuminated by old mining lights turning on one by one as they dangled from the ceiling.

"You ever wonder where Actaeon gets the words for these passwords? Sounds like he just picks them out of a sudoku book." Jaclyn shot out.

"More like a newspaper crossword." I offered back.

We continued into the tunnel, the opening closed automatically behind us just like the waterfalls.

The tunnel began to angle upward as we walked, remnants of mining tool dents and holes in the rock were evident and dripping with water.

Why it was dripping water, I honestly didn't know. Prospecting and mining has never been much of an interest to me.

The tunnel was originally created back during the mid-1800's when they tried to set up a mine in the mountain; But Athos, the current god of the mountain, denied them any valuable materials and they abandoned the site.

That, and they kept suffering cave-ins all the time.

The deeper we went, I made sure to avoid the various traps and precautions that had been set up in case intruders ever made it through the front door (I'd seriously pay to see anyone try to get through Scamander in one piece).

Of course, none of these traps were active at the time. _At least most of them are, I think._

But when they were active, we had _quite_ the variety of sudden death and/or agonizing tortures to choose from.

There were shrapnel explosives filled with all manner of sharp objects from pebbles to silver wear, trip wires that activated poisoned darts to come out of both sides of the tunnel walls (Atalanta had them installed after Actaeon had introduced her to the Indiana Jones movies).

And then my personal favorite; lines of hoses running all along the tunnel that were filled with a special oil that, when ignited, created Greek fire that could fill the whole length of the tunnel in green flames with in an instant.

 _Nothin like a little barbecue before a good fight, or after;_ _whichever_ _comes first._

The tunnel also branched off into other directions that would lead you to more traps unless you knew the right way through the small maze.

 _You could say they were literal dead ends_.

Glancing back again just to see how everyone was doing, not much was different.

Jaclyn was still holding Alex's hand (to which she was probably blushing at), while Jack led the prisoner by her shoulder.

After another minute of walking, we reached the back wall of the main tunnel, where a simple iron gate blocked the exit.

I looked towards the part of the gate that usually had the item I was looking for and there it was. A simple turn style combination lock showed in the dim lighting.

I went up and put in the correct combination, causing hidden gears and levers to move inside the gate door and with a final big click, the doorway opened outwards revealing the exit.

By now you're probably wondering why we have all these over the top security stages and traps set up; well let's just say our home's founders had a love of having the best security available.

I've even overheard Actaeon talking about adding fingerprint and eye scanners soon. _Is there such a thing as over compensating? Anyone?_

As we walked through the stone door, the light at the opening shone down on us, apparently the sun had finally risen.

We walked out the opening and saw the last line of defense of the valley, a toll booth.

The kind you'd go through when entering a national park or something. There was even a yellow gate that lifted up to let you through.

Manning the gate was my friend Jorge, who happen to be on post this morning.

He was a buff guy at 20 years old, with dark, caramel skin and a bald head. His dark blue eyes contrasted well with his skin and he had a little trimmed beard.

Jorge was wearing Roman style armor that was made with metal, whereas are normal light leather armor didn't (budget cuts).

He also preferred no helmet; said it chafed his scalp which I guess would be true, him being bald and all.

Under his armor was the normal blue Ranch shirt and he carried a battle axe over his shoulder that, from personal experience, I knew he was a natural with.

In my opinion, out of all the residents of the Ranch, he was the toughest of us all. _I dare you to not agree after seeing him in person as he raised his axe, ready to maul you down, you'd whimper in fear too._

"Welcome back!" He said after stepping out of the booth. His hands were already on his axe handle, simply out due to muscle reflex.

"Hey Jorge, how's it going?" I asked, slowing my pace as I passed him while the others simply waved or nodded their hello's as went on ahead.

"Not too bad. Heard Atalanta woke you guys up for an early morning job. How'd that go?" he asked.

I nodded for him to follow me as we walked. Was it a good idea leaving the booth unattended? No.

But considering the _welcome matt_ that awaited any intruders, it was okay to leave it for a few minutes at least.

"It wasn't the worst fight I'd been in. Just some demigods running from monsters." I said, obviously oversimplifying it.

He took a glance at the girl on Blues back. "I was wondering who they were. Care to give me the whole story?"

"Ha, tell you what; how about I tell you over lunch after your shift ends?" I suggested, he nodded then looked back at the girl again, a smirk forming on his face.

"What?" I asked, but I already guessed what he was thinking.

"She's kinda cute." He said, earning a flat look from me.

"Careful their bud, that cute girl is also a Hunter of Di- I mean Artemis." I cursed at myself for mixing the two up again, they were technically the same thing, but I've found that her Greek aspect is more popular.

I shook my head, getting back to the conversation at hand. "Which means she probably knows at least a dozen ways to castrate you."

Jorge raised both his hands up in a sign of backing off. "Okay, okay. So cute but deadly? That's kind of hot in its own way."

That little sly comment earned a well-aimed nudge from my elbow, and a little laugh.

"So, a Hunter of Artemis ending up all the way out here? That's not something I expected to happen on only the first hour of my shift. Are those other girls Hunters two? Oh Gods please don't tell me one of ems is Artemis, she would've totally heard me!"

I laughed at the guys suffering but shook my head.

"Nah, only the ones on the horses are Hunters, the one with the blindfold is a part of the group that attacked them, or at least she _was,_ or maybe _still_ is… I don't know."

"You mind clarifying yourself their grandpa?" He joked.

"We caught her while she was treating one of the Hunter's wounds. I didn't see it up close, but from all the blood on her sleeves and poncho, I'd say she was trying everything she could to save her."

"Did she?"

"No." I glanced at the dead huntress on her horse. "We were too late for her."

My eyes stayed on the Hunter, but my mind took me back to the last time I was too late to help someone. The only difference now was that I didn't really know who it was that I failed.

"Hey man, you good?" Jorge asked, knocking me out of my memories.

"Yeah… yeah I'm alright." He probably thought I wasn't, decided to stay quiet about it. No doubt planning to bring it up at lunch.

"Well you better get back to your little phone booth, before someone gets by Wader and all of Atalanta's welcome gifts." I suggested.

He laughed with a smack on my shoulder and swiveled back towards his post. I shook my head at his antics and continued now from the rear of the group.

Jorge and I have been friends long before we even came to the Ranch, he knows me better than pretty much everyone here.

We met each other… _Ha!_ No, more like we _found_ each other in the Twelfth Legion eight years ago; felt like it has been a lifetime since then.

"Hey Thaddeus!" Jorge shouted, making me turn my head back.

"Just a heads up! Jenna _really_ missed you last night. Don't be surprised if she jumps you this morning." he said with that familiar huge white smile on his smug face.

I chuckled at the knowledge of what I was in for and waved back.

"Thanks for the warning." I said to him.

"Don't thank me yet, who do you think was the one who made her miss you in the first place?" he said, his smile getting bigger if that was possible.

I flipped him off from behind my back, causing him to laugh even more.

As our group went along towards the Box, one thought kept bouncing around in my head over and over again.

 _She is soooo going to have my head later._

 **A/N – And that's Ch.4**

 **I'm actually surprised I was able to work out three smaller chapters out of just the one from before.**

 **To anyone who got a headache from trying to last through my chapters before, Sorry.**

 **Next –** Ch.5 No Place Like It.


	5. No Place Like It

**Legacy: Orphans of Legends**

 **CH – 5:** No Place Like It

 **Thaddeus POV**

It's good to be home.

While walking, I looked over the small valley that I liked to call our own private slice of Elysium.

I never got tired of looking at it whenever I came back from visiting my family or doing whatever jobs Atalanta came up for us.

The valley was crooked away on the southern outskirts of Grand Teton National Park, in the northern region of Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming.

It was well hidden away and hard to find. To anyone trying to find it, all they'd get is just more and more mountains.

Most of the valley was made up of hilly grasslands in the center with forests of pine surround the outer areas.

The terrain arched up, turning into high green covered mountains that gave us both protection and one beautiful picture of scenery.

There was a medium sized lake filled with crystal blue water that sparked in the morning sun towards the northern half of the valley.

Near the lakeshore, there was a small town called Horse Creek that housed most of the older people who no longer wanted to work at the Ranch and simply desired a life of peace.

In many ways, it kind of reminded me of New Rome at Camp Jupiter, but more… small townish.

A lot of people whose parentage was Greek said they thought if Camp Half-blood was ever gonna have something like New Rome, it would probably look like Horse Creek with maybe a little more grandeur.

I took their word for it since I've never been to the Greek Camp myself.

I was following one of various dirt paths through a hillside of grass and spotted a group of other Ranchers on horseback riding along another trail. The valley had a whole network of trails that even I hadn't memorized fully.

 _Believe me, I've tried._

They waved towards us and we waved back.

Our path continued off across a field and then through a patch of pine trees. The breeze flowed over the grass and brought the pleasant smell of the trees with it.

Eventually we finally came upon the larger field that had the _Box_ in the middle.

That's what we call the giant wood fortress that surrounds the cluster of main buildings, stables, and living quarters of the Ranch.

The fort was a perfect square with roofed watch towers on each corner and a 20-ft. high wall that stretched between the towers.

Like the mine, the fort was also built in the mid 1800's, but it was built by soldiers of the 1st Wyoming Regiment when settlers started coming west to the new frontier.

Technically, there was no Wyoming 1st Regiment as far as historical records go, it was formed by veterans of the Civil War who didn't believe in the conflict or had no personal reasons to fight in the first place.

Both Union (Greek) and Confederate (Rome) states were too fixated on fighting, they barely noticed a couple hundred deserters here and there.

The whole story about how they found and built this place was the usual inspirational stuff; the risking of their lives across a harsh wilderness, putting aside old rivalries for the sake of survival, and helping each other simply because they asked for it, not demanded.

I was never much for history. But I do like going through some of the old gear and artifacts from those days, but they don't get used and stay in storage mostly collecting dust.

 _It's a shame really, I've got my eye on a seven-pound canon that I would die just to test out!_

The fort itself wasn't anything great or something, it had the basic layout.

The main buildings included the Dining hall, which was the largest building and serves as the eating area, meeting hall, and occasional skills class area.

It was centered on the opposite side of the entrance gates across the corral that was in the center of the _Box_ , so it was the first building you saw as you entered.

Next in the right corner was the two-story Armory that held (big surprise) all the weapons of the Ranch.

It also worked as the official Ranch convenient store where you could buy outside commodities like Coke, magazines, bug spray, movie rentals, the works.

To the right of the Armory was the one-story Library that had some good classics (a few dates back to the sack of Rome itself) and a handful of more modern choices.

There was another building attached next to it that served as the Ranch Marshal's, aka: Actaeon's, office/quarters.

 _Cough-_ principals _-cough-_ office _-cough._

On the opposite side of the fort, there where the living quarters that had three stories that could hold about forty at a time but on average held about twentyish right now.

There was no requirement that said you had to live in the fort barracks once you passed the age of twenty-one, then you were considered old enough to live on your own.

Some have argued to change it to eighteen, but it hasn't gotten anywhere.

Once twenty-one, you always had the option of living in town, there were almost always a few cabins open, which was more evident these days.

The reason being that in the last few decades, there's been a decrease of our population at the Ranch.

Atalanta said that it was due to the new laws the gods now abide by, which forces them to recognize all their children and honor almost all the minor deities along with their children too.

Which all sounds well and dandy. From what I understand, it's been the most progress there's been in thousands of years. I still wonder from time to time who'd managed that huge feat.

 _Must have been one hell of a guy… or gal._

Next was the stables, which ran along the entrance side of the fort.

We had about twenty horses that we mostly shared. There was also a herd of wild horses living in the valley, but we left them be mostly.

And last was our destination, the two-story infirmary that had a big red plus sign above the entrance. It was located right in between the living quarters and the stables.

Anyway, back to now.

We entered the log made fort through its main gate that opened out and was almost never closed, it was also made of wood but was triple reinforced with a thin layer or two of steel.

Once in, my eyes flew up to the blue flag flying on the flagpole in the center of the corral. It bore the Ranch's symbol, a gold skinny looking horse surrounded by a golden ring on a bright blue background.

I've been told the flag design was an antique used in the ancient city of Troy. Good movie, sad story, but great action.

Whether the design was used or not, I like to think it was perfect for us.

"Home sweet home." I said to no one in particular.

 _No place like it._

Glancing around, I noticed groups here and there doing skill classes, playing games, and/or just talking. Life's always been peaceful and quiet here.

"Alright. Jack, you and Jaclyn take that girl to Actaeon; update him as much as you can, we'll join you in a few minutes." I told Jack who nodded and gave his reins to me and took the blinded prisoner from Alex.

"Aw! How come I have to be the one to tell him what happened?!" Jaclyn complained.

"Cause you love to brag, now get going." I said, already walking away so she couldn't argue anymore.

After some soap worthy vocabulary, I heard Alex coming up behind me with both his and Jaclyn's horse in tow.

While we made our way around the corral to the infirmary, a number people were eyeing us and our _guests_ , curious about whatever had happened.

 _This was probably going to be the talk of the Ranch for a while._

"Hey!" a familiar voice shouted, pulling my attention back ahead of me.

Jogging her way over to us from the infirmary was Jane, she was the one in charge of anything medical related on the Ranch.

"Is everyone alright? Jorge radioed that there was injured." She said, already looking over all of us but settled on the horses that carried the hunters.

"How bad?" she asked as she passed us and began looking at the hunter on Jaclyn's horse.

"She's got cuts and bruises all over her body, but the worst are two arrow wounds on her shoulder and calf. We got the bleeding to stop but she already lost a lot of blood." Alex answered her.

"And the others?" Jane asked, glancing at the other hunters.

"This one at least has a concussion and major bruising, especially around the neck. The last one…" I could only shake my head, but Jane seemed to understand.

"Let's get these two into the main room, take the last one to a private room." She ordered as she was already leading us back to the infirmary.

Jane was the oldest Rancher here, so she had seen her fair share of gruesome scenes.

Normally she was a gentle woman who looked to be in her sixties (though I wouldn't ever be curious enough to ask her age directly).

She had salt and pepper hair with light blue eyes and wore a doctor's coat over her dark blue Ranch shirt and jeans, she also wore a pair of light blue oval glasses that had a string attached to both ends and wrapped around her neck to keep them from falling off.

Some thought she was a daughter of Apollo when they first met her; they were close, but wrong.

Apollo was her grandfather; her father was Asclepius, the god of medicine.

I tied the horses to the post in front of the infirmary and began to carefully pull the hunter down from Blue's back, making sure not to make any jerking motions.

Walking up the building steps and through the door that a naiad held open for me, I made my way through to the main treatment room.

Another naiad directed me to an open bed. I placed her down gently, making sure she was comfortable.

Alex had already brought the second hunter in and put her on the neighboring bed, I looked between her and the one I just laid down.

 _Where did you two come from?_ I thought as if I was expecting them to answer.

A hand grabbed my shoulder and I looked to see Jane. "You mind telling me what happened? Where is Jack and Jaclyn?" she asked.

"Their fine, they're at the office." I said, allowing Jane at least some relief.

"And these two?" she asked.

"They're Hunters." I said.

"All the way out here? And at night without supervision?" she asked, moving over and started checking the girls over.

"I mean Hunters _of_ _Artemis_." I clarified, making her ark an eyebrow.

"Oh. Well this should make for an interesting story, but tell me later. You and Alex should leave while I clean these two up." She said.

Alex didn't need telling twice as he was already out the door, but I stayed back a moment.

Jane notice my stay and gave me a questioning look. "Something else Thaddeus?" she asked.

"Just… keep me updated on her-I mean _their_ progress?" I asked, feeling awkward in asking.

Jane just gave me a sly smile while giggling shortly. "My dear Thaddeus, already smitten over one, are we?" she asked with humor and a hint of suggestiveness.

I just looked away, avoiding her from seeing both my glare and the possible blush of embarrassment I had.

"Ha, ha, yes Thaddeus. I'll call you if something comes up, now off you go" She said, nodding to the door.

"Thanks." I said, taking one last glance at the hunter, then stepped out of the infirmary into the warm Autumn sun that I welcomed over the awkward moment I just had.

"Thad." I looked down to see Alex who was waiting for me "Actaeon will want us both in his office."

 _Oh yeah, I almost forgot. This should be an exhausting meeting._ I thought as I walked with Alex to Actaeon's office.

Actaeon was our immortal … well, he's actually many things to us here.

The Ranch Marshal, teacher, historian, role model, father figure, voice of reason, bestower of cleaning duties, the list goes on.

I don't know all the specifics of how he came to be here.

From what I've heard, he was something of a huntsman in Ancient Greece who got an immortal curse from angering a god.

Atalanta found him and freed him on the condition he serve here till whenever his services were no longer needed.

Anything beyond that was a mystery; but there is a bet pool for which goddess cursed him.

I had $20 bucks that said it was Hera.

I have nothing against her personally, but she always seemed to have a tendency for cursing demigods more often than most of the other gods.

Jack had bet on Artemis, Jaclyn on the Fates, and Jorge betted on Circe. Alex wasn't interested, mostly because he was broke and never had any luck with gambling.

Actaeon himself wasn't bad, he is an awesome teacher.

He's given us care and knowledge of how to survive in the world and taught me everything I know about hunting and archery. Though Atalanta slipped in her own advice on the subject as well.

You could say the two immortals adopted all of us who had nowhere else to go where we belonged.

Well… most of us at least.

"Think he'll be mad?" Alex asked.

"Hm, couldn't say. Why do you think he'd be mad?" I asked.

"Well, it's just that I still can't understand what Scamander meant back there, about how Actaeon hates the Hunters. Why would Actaeon not like them, he's never badmouthed them as far as I know." Alex said while staring at the ground.

He seemed to be talking to himself than to me, but I answered any way.

"He's never mouthed a word about them _period_. The only one I've heard talk about them was Atalanta when some of the girls asked her about them. Maybe it has something to do with an old rivalry, he is a skilled hunter; a _male_ hunter at that." I offered.

But Alex only seemed to have more questions than less.

As for myself, I was more worried about my own _relation_ to the Hunters.

While this was the first time I'd actually met one, the Hunters seem to have a hatred for… _him_ that has apparently lasted for thousands of years and got a hundred times worse after the recent war.

Atalanta and Actaeon were the only two who knew who about my family's history and chose not to explain the crimes in detail to me, which I was okay with.

I wanted nothing to do with that _man_. The only good he's ever done for the world was bring me and my sister into it, he can go rot in whatever hole he's hidden himself in for all I cared.

By the time my train of thought had ended, we'd reached the Marshals office by the library.

"Guess we'll just have to find out, one way or another." I finished as I opened the door and we both entered.

The layout reminded me of an old-style sheriff's department's office.

A big wooden reception desk was facing in front of the entrance that stretched from wall to wall, it had an opening with two swinging doors like at a western bar you see in movies that led to the back.

There was a hall off to the right that had two jail cells that we mostly didn't use except for severe occasions such as now.

I glanced down the hall and saw our prisoner in one of the cells, sitting on a bench looking as emotionally beaten as the last time I saw her.

Occupying the oversized reception desk was an old naiad that the Ranch hired called Ruby.

She had light red curly hair and a slightly wrinkled face, I'd venture to guess she'd be in her late fifties if she were human and had light green skin.

She wore a pair of half-moon spectacles on the edge of her nose as she read something that was out of our site.

 _Probably one of those old romance novels with that Fabio guy on the cover. Naiads love those kinds of books._

"Hey Ruby, we're here to see Actaeon." Alex announced.

"Go right ahead, he and the others are waiting in his office." she said without even looking up to see who we were.

 _She must be at one of those 'special' scenes in the book._

The thought got a smirk out of me as we both entered through the swinging doors and turned into Actaeon's office door that had an engraving that reads: MARSHAL'S OFFICE.

I knocked twice and the door opened up revealing Jack as the opener with a blank face behind his blue colored glasses. He nodded his head towards the room signaling us to come in.

Jaclyn was sitting in a wooden chair leaning it back to the wall while playing with an old toy called a spinner, or fidget, or something like that.

They went out of style ages ago that no one except demigods played around with them since most of us are ADHD.

Glancing around the office, it was decorated with pictures and hunting gear that looked as old as my great, great, great grandfather (on my mother's side, of course, she had a picture of him in a Union Officers Uniform during the Civil War).

There were similar pictures here that were tan in color; they showed Actaeon mostly, standing with groups ranging in numbers from three to a dozen. He looked happy and proud in each of them.

There were also a few windows that showed outside, and a fireplace in the back with a rocking chair and a sofa next to it.

"Glad you two could finally join us." a gruff voice of a man with a small southern accent said.

Looking over, I saw a man who looked to be in his early forties with short, swaying brown hair with a neatly trimmed beard. His cheeks were a patchwork of wrinkles from smiling.

His eyes matched his hair as a dark brown that seemed to have watched centuries of history (which they actually had).

Sitting behind his old oak desk was our Ranches Marshal, Actaeon.

He wore an old-style walnut canvas vest that had long antlers engraved into both shoulder areas with a pocket watch chain coming out of his right lower pocket and hooked to his belt.

Underneath he had a simple long sleeve white collared button up shirt with a bolo tie around his collar, it had an elk head engraved onto it.

He gave off an old western John Wayne sheriff look that made him all the more intimidating.

"From the little I've heard of this whole _situation_ , yawl have really put us in a bit of a bind." He said to us all as Alex, Jack, and we all sat down in the remaining wood chairs that faced his desk.

His gaze seemed to make you freeze like a deer in headlights.

"So" he said while leaning back in his chair and conjoining his fingers, "anyone want to start this off or am I gonna have to pick one uh you?"

Alex, being the most daring (or dumb) of us all, volunteered to break the ice.

"Where would you like us to start?" He asked, no doubt trying to buy time to come up with a good way to explain it to him.

Actaeon sighed, apparently not being fooled by the tactic but went along with it anyway.

"How 'bout the beginning, yeah? When, where, and why did you help the Hunters?"

I sighed and decided to start this off. The quicker we started, the sooner we can get something to eat.

 _What? I never had breakfast._

"Atalanta got the four of us last early this morning along with Callie and told us she needed backup for an important monster hunt outside of the valley and that she'd explain the details on the way." I said.

Actaeon nodded for me to continue while not changing his expectant look.

"We hurried off along the outer cliff edge till we came across a field where we found the Hunters fighting against monsters." Before I could continue, Actaeon interrupted me.

"What kinda monsters? How many?" He asked without taking his eyes off me. Apparently, I'd become the unofficial storyteller here.

 _Oh goody_.

"Looked like werewolves and dracaenas. I don't know how many there were exactly. The Hunters seemed to have killed a few before we even got there." I said, hoping my reply was good enough.

He seemed to be deep in thought, gazing down at his desk.

"Now you're sure they were werewolves?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure, or at least Atalanta was. Why?" I may not be a child of Athena, but I was curious, he almost seemed nervous about something.

He took another moment to answer.

"Werewolves ain't well known for their _friendliness_ with monsters." He said.

"But aren't they monsters too." Alex asked.

"They ain't technically classed as monsters since they were once, and kinda still are, mortals. They'd prefer to fight by themselves rather than with other monsters." It might be my hunger taking affect, but I thought I saw wariness on the old guys face.

 _What could worry you?_

"What happened next?" he asked, once he finished his silent thoughts. Before I could continue, Jaclyn decided to jump in.

"We kicked their asses." It was plain and simple, but not what I think Actaeon was looking for.

But he smirked at Jaclyn's simplicity nevertheless.

"I reckon you did a fairly good job at it too, but I'm gonna need something more than that." he said, but Jaclyn just shrugged,

"That's all I did." was her response. I rolled my eyes at that.

 _What a hot head, she'd make Ares himself wish she was his daughter._

Alex decided to take a turn.

"We took positions to take them out from above, then had Callie go in to distract them. Once we had them off balance, we jumped down and finished the last of them." He said.

Suddenly Jack coughed behind us to get our attention and began signing with his hands.

He was mute so this was the best way to communicate. I got most of it, I think.

"Not, All, Some, Escape," was what I gathered he said. My sign language was okay, but still needed work; luckily, I only had to read them and not try it out. I might have signed something offensive.

"Some of 'em got away?" Actaeon asked sitting high up in his chair with an angry look on his face.

 _Should have known he wouldn't like that part._ He slowly stood up with his hands on the desk and leaning forward.

"Did any of 'em identify you or Atalanta?" he asked in a serious tone.

"Not that we could tell, they probably confused us with the Hunt." I suggested, it seemed to ease his mind a little as he sat back down.

"Alright, but then were is Atalanta?" he asked.

"After they retreated, Atalanta said that the werewolves had managed to capture one of the Hunters and she ran off to find her. Then we came back and here we are." I finished.

"I see." Actaeon said as he sat back in his chair. "But then how were you able to capture one of the werewolves?" Alex took it from there.

"The girl was giving one of the wounded Hunters first aid, but the hunter still didn't make it." he said looking down with a depressed look on his face.

Actaeon first bore a face of confusion but changed and gave Alex a look of sympathy. He then stood up from his chair and walked around his desk to stand in front of Alex, he placed an arm on his shoulder that made Alex look up to the old teacher.

"What matters is that you tried your best son." he said giving his shoulder a small squeeze with his hand to try and comfort him.

"What's going to happen to the prisoner we brought?" Alex asked.

Actaeon thought for a minute then said, "Suppose I'll have to question her. Beyond that, we'll have to wait for later." He stepped away and looked over all of us. "Is there anything else?" he asked.

We all shook our heads.

"Well alright then. You all did a good job, now go grab some food before the chefs stop cooking the good stuff." he said with positivity.

As we all filed out of the office, I stayed behind.

"Thad?" Alex asked, but I waved him off, he looked confused as he shut the door behind him.

"Is there something else you want to talk 'bout with me Thaddeus?" he said a few moments after they others had left.

He mindlessly took out an old pipe he used to smoke tobacco.

"With all this going on, it sounds like the Hunters will start looking for their friends eventually, what happens if they come our way?" I asked.

Not that I'm generally scared of a group of elite female warriors who are famous for beating the shit out of any boy who so much as glances at them. No that didn't scare me at all (sarcasm).

For me it was more of a family problem.

My mentor looked at me with understanding, he moved back so that he was sitting on the corner of his desk with his arms crossed while fiddling with his pipe.

"Yeah my boy, the two of us may have to face our pasts very soon, though you might have a chance to keep your secret, but I reckon it wouldn't be for long." he said with a comforting voice (well, as comforting as a southern accent could be).

I let out a dramatic sigh.

"Guess it can't be helped, I'm more worried about my sister than myse… Wait, I almost forgot, Scamander mentioned you had a problem with the Hunters too, what's that about?" I asked.

Actaeon changed to his poker face before thinking about how to respond to me. _I hated that face._

"It happened a long, long, time ago between me and Artemis. I doubt she even remembers the whole thing." he said while looking off in the distance as if he was remembering whatever happened to him.

But his look changed back to one of calmness quickly enough.

"Well, it won't do either you or me any good mope 'in about it. We'll deal with it if they ever come round. We all have to come to terms with our pasts eventually son, best not for you to worry about it just yet. Go off and get some brunch, you did good today." he said gesturing for me to head out.

I gave him a friendly smile in return and headed out.

The last thought I had on the subject was: A _t least I'm not the only one with a bad relationship with the hunt._

 **LINEBREAK**

After leaving the office and standing on its porch, I checked my watch. It was only a quarter after seven in the morning.

 _I think I'll go for some breakfast after I bring Blue back to the stables._

I walked over to the horse post near the infirmary and untied Blues reins.

Giving the infirmary a small glance, I wondered how the girl was doing, but quickly dismissed the thought. _I doubt I'll get any mercy from the Hunt just for worrying about one of their own._

I walked over to the stables and brought Blue to her pen. I decided to take off her saddle and reins, figuring thatI probably won't be using her for the rest of today _._ I gave her some hay and refilled her water jug.

I stepped out of her pen and watched as she ate away furiously. With a full mouth of munching, she walked to her window and nuzzled her nose on my head in a show of affection.

I petted her in return and sneaked her an apple slice. "Great work today. I just hope that girl will be-"

"THADY!" A young, high pitched girls voice screamed through the stables getting louder as it came closer to me.

"Uh Oh." I said to my horse who I swear just gave me a look that said, " _You're in trouble bucko!"_

Before I could turn around to look at my coming attacker, a pair of small arms wrapped around my neck choking me slightly but not enough to be deadly (almost).

Small feet and knees began to dig into the back of my leather armor and arms around my neck lifted up to grab my head as the small lightweight body climbed its way up to my head.

After a few more seconds, the girl had planted herself sitting on my shoulders and then leaned down to show her upside-down face on my right side.

There I saw the smiling, adorable face of my everyday sunshine surrounded in her radiant auburn hair that dangled from her head and a pair of caramel eyes looking at me with their usual excitement.

"Good morning Jenna." I said with a smile to the energetic 4-year-old sitting on me.

Suddenly her face changed to one of annoyance and glared at me. _How does one still look adorable when making a face like that?_

"Your mad that I was gone last night, aren't you?" I said matter-of-factly.

"Mm Hmm!" she hummed while nodding confirming my statement.

She leaned back up and wrapped her arms around my head (told you she'd have my head) and rested her chin on top. "You didn't read me my story." She moped.

"Yes, I know and I'm sorry." I said while rubbing her legs on my shoulders. "Some new friends needed helping, so I went and helped them, can you forgive me?"

She relaxed her arms after hearing my excuse. "Oooookayyyyy, but next story, you read two times." She said with renewed enthusiasm.

"Deal!" I said. _Not the worst punishment I've had for being late._

"Hello Blueberry!" Jenna said calling Blue her special nickname and tried reaching out to the horse. I leaned forward for her and she petted the stallion gently who huffed softly at the young girls' care.

Despite how large they are compared to her, horses never seemed to scare Jenna. She first thought Callie was actually a giant teddy bear when she first saw her.

"Jenna! Jenna, where are you!?" A familiar girls voice yelled from outside.

I sighed and looked up at the young lady on my shoulders which forced her grab my head to prevent her from falling off, which wouldn't have happened as I was clutching her legs.

"Did you run away from Riley again?" I asked in a tone that emphasized I already knew the answer.

"Ummm, maybeee." She said back to me in that innocent tone of hers. _Ah, not again._

I sighed again at hearing that Jenna still did that after repeated scolding from me. It's not that she does it to get attention (most of the time), she's just curious and once something has her attention, that's all she'll think about. _Thanks ADHD._

"In here Riley! I've got her!" I shouted out to Riley.

A few seconds later the girl was leaning forward on the stable doors, huffing and wheezing trying to catch her breath from running all over the fort.

Riley was my step-sister, my mother adopted her a few years ago after finding out she had no other family outside of the Ranch.

She was Hispanic with curly black hair and cornflower blue eyes that matched mine. She wore the regular blue Ranch shirt with tan shorts and hiking boots. She was 13 years old and had been a Rancher for three summers now.

"I'm so sorry Thaddeus, I was talking with Jaclyn by the Hall when I turned around and she was gone." She said after catching her breath. She tends to take her responsibilities a little too seriously.

"It's fine Riley, no harm no fowl." I tried to calm her nerves.

She and I had gotten along very well these last two summers. It took me all of her first summer here to really stop her from being nervous around me. This summer she's finally starting to open up to others.

Riley nodded, then glanced up at Jenna with a look of disappointment and placed her hands on her hips in a 'you're in trouble' look.

"Why did you run off this time?" she asked.

Jenna giggled at Riley's annoyance of her act. "I saw Thady with Blueberry." Was her answer, as if any other answer wouldn't have worked; I couldn't help but laugh a little at that.

Riley just closed her eyes and sighed in defeat, knowing there was no real way or point to argue with a four-year-old.

"Okay, but next time at least tell me where you're going before you leave, alright?"

I could feel my head shake as Jenna nodded her head a few times. _She's still probably going to do it again_ _anyway_ _._

"You two have breakfast yet?" I asked them both.

"No, we were on our way when _someone_ got sidetracked." Riley said, obviously referring to Jenna who just giggled back at her.

"You stopped and talked with Jacly first!" Jenna retorted right back, to which Riley blushed in embarrassment. "Okay, yeah, maybe I did talk to Jaclyn a little bit..."

 _She may just be four, but Jenna is a sharp thinker._

"She got you there Riles." I added.

 _What? I gotta have a little fun too. It is a big brother's duty to pick on their little_ _siblings_ _._

"Whatever, I give up." Riley said putting her arms up in the air in surrender.

"Okay then, let's go chow down, I'm starving." I said giving Blue one more pat and heading for the door. "What's on the menu today again?" I asked Riley, but Jenna beat her to it.

"French Toast!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Perfect!" I said as we exited the stables and walked towards the Dining Hall.

"Where'd you go last night anyway?" Riley asked, falling into step beside me.

"It was kind of a rescue. We beat up some monsters, saved some lost girls, and made it back just in time for brunch." I said back in a matter of fact tone that made it sound like I was listing off a choir list.

That got a giggle out of Riley. "So, who were these girls anyway?"

I hesitated in answering. It wasn't like I didn't trust Riley, but she tends to have a loose tongue at times.

"I'll tell you only if you promise to keep it on the down low for now, got it?" I asked and she nodded.

Okay, so have you ever heard of the Hunters of Artemis?" I asked and she nodded, then realization formed on her face as she put two and two together.

"You mean we actually have Artemis's Hunters here? Is Artemis here too? Can I meet her?" she asked with renewed vigor.

"Riles! Keep it down, you want the whole Ranch in an uproar?" I warned, glancing around to see if anyone heard us.

"Sorry, but it's just that I've always wanted to meet her." She said.

"Well she isn't here, but two of her Hunters are; and sure, you can meet them when they are feeling better, okay?" I offered.

That seemed to satisfy her, and she nodded in agreement. The three of us continued to the Hall with Jenna humming a song on my shoulders.

As we walked, my thoughts began to wonder to the events of last night again. I just couldn't shake the feeling there was something more, something we were missing.

 _What did those monsters want with the Hunters anyway?_

 **Next –** Ch.6 Down the Rabbit Hole


	6. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Orphans of Legends**

 **CH-6: Down the Rabbit Hole**

 **Thalia POV**

Note to self: The next time you visit Camp Half-Blood, drag one of those lazy children of Morpheus out of their bed and force them to find a way for demigods to have normal dreams for once.

Why no one has tried to find a solution to these migraines, I will never know.

After passing out, it felt like I was drifting in open space, waiting for something to happen.

I swore I began hearing that old Jeopardy jingle you hear when the contestants are writing down their answers.

 _I hated that song!_

Nico said he convinced his dad to use it as a torture method in the underworld, I can't help but think he was thinking about me when he came up with the idea. _Stupid death breath._

Then suddenly I began free falling to where I guessed was down.

Down and down for what seemed like forever, but before I knew it, I was laying back on the ground.

 _Ow… Can someone even get a head concussion from falling in a dream?_

I shook the headache off and l took a look around, seeing familiar dark grey tents with crescent moons on their sides. I was in the middle of the hunter's campsite.

For a fleeting moment I thought this was perfect, I could go to Artemis and ask for help; my hope was instantly brought down when I remembered I couldn't talk to others in these stupid dreams.

After a lengthy time of swearing on my part, I began searching for the usual tell-tale signs of these dreams that told you whether you were in the past, present, or future.

The overall layout of the camp and the landscape that surrounded it made me guessed that it must have been around the time I left the camp.

The Hunters never stay in the same place more than a week at most, and since I knew they were going to leave this spot a few days after I left, I had a good hunch when this was.

"Hey Thalia!" I heard someone yell.

My eyes automatically looked in the direction and saw one of our girls, Hunter, looking around for me.

Yes, we have a Hunter of Artemis that just happens to be named Hunter, talk about irony.

I waved my hand to get her attention, but when she didn't notice me, I remembered that this was just a dream.

Instead of being embarrassed, I was just depressed.

"What's up Hunter?!" Strangely, the yell came from my voice.

Obviously, it wasn't ME-me, it was the old me, the one from whenever this time was.

 _It is really weird hearing me talk like this. Like listening to a recording of yourself and your voice sounded odd to you, even though it was your voice!_

I looked over and saw myself sitting just outside a tent fidgeting with some daggers that I happened to be sharpening.

"Artemis wants to see you at her tent, says she has something she wants to talk to you about." Hunter said.

"Okay, thanks." Old-me said and I dropped the dagger into a pile of other daggers I'd been working on and left to meet up with the leader of the Hunt, Artemis: Goddess of the Moon, Hunting, Archery, Wildlife, Childbirth, and Maidenhood.

The old-me headed for the center of our camp and saw that Artemis was waiting outside her tent for me with her arms crossed and her eyes were gazing up at the partly cloudy sky at the quarter shaded moon, she looked to be thinking something over in her head.

She didn't give me any indication that she noticed me walking up to her.

"You wanted to talk to me about something?" I asked her in a relaxed tone.

She may be a goddess (and a pretty serious one at that), but when all of us were alone together in our camp, we all talked to each other like normal people would; that includes conversations with Artemis (though most still kept a tone of respect when talking with her).

Artemis turned her attention to me and gave me a friendly smile.

"Yes, I've got a new assignment for you, we should discuss it in private." She said, gesturing for her tent which she then walked into without another word.

My dream-self followed Artemis inside and I walked/floated (hard to tell) after them.

By now I'd remembered that this was the day Artemis told me about our mission to visit the Amazons, as-well-as my personal side mission.

Coming into Aramis's tent, it looked like a combination of an old-fashioned hunter shack with various pelts and furs posted around neatly along with several styles of bows and arrows from different time periods and regions.

The rest of the tent looked like a homey looking cottage with small wood furniture and decorations.

On the tent ceiling, there was a night sky full of stars and a moon that matched the same one just outside.

Several old oil candle lamps brought a soft yellow light that cast shadows, making the whole tent feel both ominous and comforting.

Granted, the tent was a lot bigger on the inside than how it looked on the outside.

I'd asked Artemis once if she got that from the Harry Potter novels and she just said that the author got it from her since she was asked to join when she was younger but declined (respectfully of course).

"What I am about to discuss with you does not leave this tent, is that understood?" Artemis said to me.

She was in her 12-year-old form as she preferred to be; she had her beautiful auburn hair tied in a neat ponytail and she wore the standard hunter silver camo uniform like all of the hunt did.

The only real difference from her and the others was that her uniform was slightly more decorated and the silver aura of power she seemed to partially glow with.

Sometimes she's even shined as bright as a full moon, but that's only when she's in a good mood.

Her silver eyes seemed to stare into me as if she was examining something she might consider as good prey to hunt. It was a very intimidating look, but after being in the hunt for almost 20 years, I've gotten used to it.

"Not a word." I said respectfully.

She smiled and nodded at my confident tone and then gestured for the old-me to have a seat in a small wooden chair by a little table, each had beautiful tree root carvings. Old-me took a seat and she followed, sitting in her own seat on the other side of the table.

Meanwhile, the current me, myself, and I stood off to the side of the entrance and was feeling really awkward.

Then the tent flap opened and in came Twilight, the alpha wolf of the Hunts pack. He was a beautiful grey wolf that had a silver glint to his fur that was supposed to be grey in color like the rest of the Hunts wolves.

The old wolf walked over and took an attentive seat next to Artemis's feat. She gave him a soft pet behind his ears which he leaned into.

 _This must be the luckiest wolf on the planet, I doubt Artemis would ever pet another like she does with him._

"You are to go to Seattle to meet up with the Amazons as planned," Artemis began, "but you will also have a side mission that will not involve the rest of your group."

This was unusual, the hunt specializes in working together either in one large group or in a small group of at least six or four of us.

"Why not the others too?" Old-me asked. Secrets are not exactly well liked in the Hunt, at least not between its members.

"There's no reason to get them involved, at least not at the moment. This side mission is only recon on your return trip; I want you to confirm something." She said.

"Lately there have been stirrings in the movements of monsters in the past few years. They are becoming less and less frequent anywhere on both the eastern and western coastlines." She said, still scratching Twilight who began huffing in relaxation.

"Monsters have been laying low for years now since the wars," Old-me said after I processed what she had said, "so what would make you nervous since their numbers are so low?" I asked.

 _Considering all the trouble we went through in the last_ _two wars_ _, we should have been monster free for at least a century._

"Yes, well despite monster numbers being at an all-time low Thalia, the fact that the remainder of what's left of them are moving towards the central regions of the country all at a similar time bares some questions; where are they going and why?" Artemis said.

Even now, that question still bothered me (that is the current-me who is having this vision). Even after what I found, I still didn't know the why.

"Alright, where am I heading then?" My past-self asked with a look of fiery determination I always put on that made Artemis smirk.

 _Huh. So, I do have a scary grin a little when I do that._

"It is a national park area called Hells Canyon." Artemis said while pulling out a map and placing it on the table.

"Currently, we're in Helena National Forest in Montana." She pointed on the map.

"Tomorrow we'll move down to North-Western Nevada, to the Sheldon Refuge. On your return trip, I want you to make a detour."

"You'll make a quick sweep of the area to see if any groups have gathered and what might be their reason. I'm assigning Carson to your group as backup in case you get into trouble, she's the best tracker we have." She said.

"Anyone else I can bring?" old-me asked, making Artemis think for a few seconds then looked like a light turned on in her head.

"How about you take Faith and Alice, they could use the experience, and I'm not expecting you to encounter anything too dangerous that would require more help. Besides, this is just a recon." She said.

"Don't worry Artemis," Old-me stated as I stood up from my seat, "a little monster hunting is just what I need, we'll be back before you know it." I said with no sign of fear or hesitation in my voice.

Artemis look was full of pride at my attitude. "Make sure that you do lieutenant."

The memory began to fade away bit by bit and I was back to floating in nothingness.

I felt anger and guilt at myself for being so overconfident and a little at Artemis for sending us in the first place.

But I stopped myself the moment I began to think like that. _It wasn't her fault, she didn't know what was going to happen. She's probably got the whole Hunt out looking for us by now and feeling guilty enough as it is._

I was also angered at Morpheus for forcing me to watch that scene. _What did reminding me of that even accomplish?_

The nothingness began to fade again to where I was standing somewhere I hadn't been before.

It looked to be another camp with tents that resembled Native American Tipis with figures painted on them that looked like people dancing with wolves.

It was mid-day from the look of the sun and there was a light breeze that danced along the grasslands that surrounded the camp.

There were small hills here and there with a wind blowing on them making it look like a calm ocean had frozen and became earth and grass in an instant.

People were walking around, doing different tasks but didn't seem to notice me. There were adults, teenagers, kids, and some elderly.

They all looked to be Native American, each had deeply tanned skin with black, uncut, hair that most had in braids, but some of the younger ones had modern haircuts too.

It looked like I had gone back in time.

The only thing that proved I hadn't was an old- style radio that was playing a song that I could only make out as a banjo playing, and a handful of other modern objects like cooking utensils, folding camp chairs, and a mobile cooking station with grills, burners, and an oven like the ones you'd see at a fair ground or some big public party outside.

I then caught the smell of meat cooking that I instantly recognized as venison (deer) meat.

 _Mmhhh, a good hunk of venison meat sounds good right now._ I thought after looking at the grill. Go figure I'd think of food in a dream/vision.

The people looked to be wearing a mix of traditional looking Native clothing, with others wearing mostly plaid shirts and jeans.

There were also a few large wolves walking around here and there that were greatly larger than average wolves.

They were carrying various things in their mouths like tools, baskets, and even pieces of wood.

 _Best guess was that they were probably more werewolves like the ones from the battle._

Then there was a wolf howl off in the distance and everyone looked to the direction it was coming from over on top of a nearby hill, several figures appeared over the top after a moment.

There was a man with three wolves by his sides.

Everyone, both people and wolves, stopped what they were doing and ran over to see what was happening, they didn't seem to be threatened by them, so I guessed they knew who it was already.

But some looked confused and worried by the group's arrival. I ended up following them, to see what the fuss was about.

As I got closer for a better look, I noticed a few things.

Two of the wolves were limping. One that had a messy brown fur had one of its front paws cut off with a bloodied bandage covering the wound.

The other with a more greyish fur coat had a bandage on its back-left leg. The only one that wasn't limping had messy brown hair like the first one, but he looked like he'd just run a marathon.

The only man with then seemed to be carrying what looked to be a small body in his arms, but I couldn't make out anything more.

"Get Naba and the other healer's out here, NOW! I have wounded!" the man shouted out, sounding desperately worried. _His voice sounded familiar to me._

A woman who I assumed to be Naba jumped out with a satchel followed by half a dozen others, both people and wolves. I followed, curious as to what this was about and who these people were.

Then I finally noticed why the man's voice sounded so familiar, and an all to familiar feeling of rage began to build in my stomach.

It was the same man that lead the attack on me and my hunters last night. The one with the low-cut mohawk.

If this wasn't a dream, I'd rip him apart till all that was left was… actually, there wasn't really going to be anything left at all.

As the group of healers reached the man with some of the wolves turning back into people, one of the injured wolves at his side suddenly changed into a person and collapsed on the ground.

I recognized the guy as the one that Mohawk had called Agus from his sideburns. He clutched his left wrist where he was missing a hand.

The wolf that was grey I recognized as the one who pinned me down after the grizzly showed up, he also transformed into a younger guy who looked Native American, but his hair was in a spiked buzz-cut. The third wolf laid down and continued painting like crazy but remained as his current form.

I was tempted to go up to each of them and hit em right where the sun don't shine till _it_ falls off, and then a few more kicks just for good measure.

But one, I wasn't physically there (Damn it!); two, I noticed Mohawk was carrying a girl.

"Here, this one requires immediate attention." he said while carefully lowering her to the floor and laid her down so the healer could inspect her wounds. I still couldn't see the girls face but from her size, she must have been a young girl.

I also noticed that Mohawk also had a flesh wound on his right arm with a poorly tied bandaged around it, he didn't seem to let the wound faze him.

"What happened?" the woman who I guessed was Naba asked as she overlooked the girl. The other healers began to work on the werewolves.

Before Mohawk could reply, Agus cut in.

"I'll tell you what happened, your _caring_ Alpha screwed everything up!" he said giving Mohawk a hateful glare.

"We would have succeeded had you not urged those virgin wrenches to surrender without a fight! We should have attacked right after we cornered them and taken them by force! That way we still would've had the initiative and I wouldn't have lost my HAND!" he raised his handless arm to illustrate his point.

"Know your place, western paw," said the other wounded werewolf who was native looking like Mohawk, "You are addressing an Alpha, and you will treat him with…" The wolf boy was cut off by a hand wave from Mohawk who I guess was the Alpha the two wounded males were referring to.

"That is enough Athrun, save your energy." Mohawk said calmly, the boy looked like he wanted to argue further, but held his words back.

Mohawk then looked back to sideburns.

"As for you Agus, I will take the blame where I am at fault, but we could not have known they would have received help so soon. And if I remember correctly, I believe your mighty king said that the Hunt would be miles away and there was no hope of aid getting to them?" He said as a healer began working on his wound.

Agus growled at Mohawk from being outsmarted, but it might have been from the pain of a healer addressing his wounded arm.

"Save your excuses, once my king learns that your failure resulted in the deaths of eight from his pack, he won't see you as the worthy allies you claimed to be and he will absorb your pack into his, just like all the others before you!" Agus shouted and caused the crowd of people I stood in to shift and whisper what I could guess had to be worrying's about his threat.

 _Absorb?_

Suddenly, a deep growl began to rise; it silenced all the gibbering almost instantly, seeming to echo off the ground.

It took me a moment to notice it was coming from Mohawk as he glared at Agus with a look that would have intimidated Ares himself. Slowly, he stoically walked his way towards Agus who became nervous under the gaze of the Alpha werewolf.

" _You_! Would _dare_ threaten **my** pack with absorption!" He growled and then an instant later, burst into a large pure black wolf that I could tell was bigger than any of the wolves that attacked us last night.

Honestly, he was the largest werewolf I'd ever seen. He had to have been eight feet high and his fur looked smooth and graceful like he combed it three times a day.

My body jumped when I heard Mohawks voice in my head somehow.

" _You will leave, NOW! Go back to your King and tell him our deal is_ _ **over**_ _!"_ The mighty wolf said as he growled, towering over the now scared looking werewolf man.

Agus then crawled away and eventually got up; he began running away from the black wolf with the other muddy wolf running after him.

The group that stood around me now looked different. Some looked at the black wolf with pride, while others looked down as if they were unsure about what to think.

I exhaled a breath I hadn't noticed I'd been holding.

 _Glad he didn't have that kind of fury the other night. He just might have made me consider surrender if he had, keyword;_ _ **maybe**_ _._ I thought.

A man from the crowd walked up next to the black wolf. He had his hair tied in a low ponytail and had three long scars across his face like a claw had slashed him.

"With respect Akilah, do you really think that was the wisest choice to make? Now there is nothing to stop Lycaon and his pack from coming for us like he did with the others." Said the man.

The black wolf shifted back into Akilah who still wore a long sleeve plaid shirt with a strange bolo tie holding the collar with two strings hanging down.

 _Akilah... Where have I heard that name before. Maybe in a story book somewhere?_

"The only alternative they presented to us was to slave under them like lap dogs. After seeing how they choose to fight and how willing those hunters were to die rather than be taken by them, I feel that I have just rectified a mistake that would have certainly cost us our values." Akilah said as he stood firm in front of the group who I guessed was his pack.

 _But what is he talking about? What deal did he make with Lycaon?_

"Akilah, come." Naba called him over while still tending to the girl. I followed him over to see what was wrong. Akilah kneeled down next to Naba watching her work.

"How is she?" Akilah asked. Naba didn't even look at him when she answered.

"She'll be okay, her head injury is not severe, a few days of rest and some healing herbs should do it." Naba said. Akilah looked relieved at the fact that the girl was okay.

I finally moved to get a look at the girl and I nearly collapsed at what I saw. Laying there, bandage and weak, was Alice.

 _Thank_ _the Gods she's okay._ I exhaled in relief. _But why did he bring her back here?_

Naba seemed to share my thought as she looked over to the Alpha and asked the same question.

"One of Agus's wolves took her during the battle, I managed to convince them to come here rather than back to their den at Hells Canyon. Had we gone there, I doubt the girl would have survived long enough to be used as a bargaining chip." He said with his normal monotone voice that seemed to gain a hint of angst.

Naba nodded her head, seeming to understand. Then her face changed to worry as she began looking around for something. She turned back to Akilah with fear evident in her eyes.

"Where is Lyra?"

Before I could hear Akilah answer, the whole scene faded back into black mirth. The last thing I saw was Alice lying on the ground unconscious, but still breathing.

I was once again afloat in open space. My thoughts buzzing so much that it drowned out the silence.

 _Alice is alive!_ I still didn't know where she was or if she was safe, but at least I knew she was still breathing. She looked like she wasn't in too much danger, but that could change very quickly.

I looked deep into the mirthy blackness and gave it my signature Thalia glare like it had shown me those scenes to tell me something.

That despite my mistake and failure, I still had the chance to make up for it. So I made a personal promise to both Alice and myself, that I would find her and bring her home no matter what might get in my way.

 _I'll find you Alice! I swear I will!_

Then I began to feel like I was beginning to fall again, my speed increasing as I went… well I couldn't tell if this was down or up this time. The darkness seeming to clear as I went, and I began to feel the dream begin to end.

I welcomed waking up, but I also feared what I would find when I did _._

Whatever might be waiting for me, I knew exactly where I was going. Once I was ready, I would go out and find my friend, and bring her and the others back home where we belonged.

 **LINEBREAK**

Before I opened my eyes, I caught a whiff of a pheromone that smelled like pine sap. It was a strangely relaxing smell that calmed my nerves down that had been hyped up during the dream.

Now as a Hunter, smelling the wilderness always puts me in a relaxed mood, but more so around pine trees.

 _After spending so many years as one, you'd think I would hate the smell, but instead I felt at home with it._

As my eyes slowly opened, I had to blink a few times to get used to the lighting before I began to focus.

I think I was lying on a small bed, and I was wearing a gown of some sorts. The room around me had walls that looked to be made of wood logs like in a cabin. I began to look around the rest of the room.

To my left was a line of four more beds that all looked like hospital cots, but they were all empty. Then I heard a calm woman's voice from my right.

"Ah, finally woken from your little nap?"

I looked over and saw an older woman sitting in a chair. She had curly light grey hair with light blue rectangle glasses looking down at me while holding a clipboard, she wore a dark blue hospital getup under a white lab coat.

 _Am I in some hospital?_

I tried to sit up, but I couldn't find the strength to, the effort in simply using my arms was exhausting, especially with my right shoulder that ached with pain. The woman placed her hand on my other shoulder stopping what little effort I was able to use.

"It's okay, your strength will return gradually, you've been through quite a lot." The woman said.

I tried to speak but my throat was as dry as a desert and I had trouble forming anything other than a few grunts.

The woman then reached over to a table near my bed and handed me a glass of water with a stray in it.

"Drink slowly and in small gulps dear." She said as I began to drink the water.

It didn't heal me like nectar would have, but it still gave me some much-needed strength and relief. After I finished the glass, another girl in a light green hospital outfit came over and took it from me.

From her green hair that had the occasional tree leaf growing out of it, I guessed she was a naiad. _So, this isn't a normal hospital._

As my head cleared, I began remembering what happened. The mission, the running, the attack, a woman with cat ears, and the dream with Alice.

I needed answers and I needed them last week.

"Where… am I, what happened, where are my friends?" I asked. The woman looked at me with an understanding nod and smile as if she was expecting this to happen.

"Your safe. There is no danger for you here huntress." she said but didn't answer my other ques- _wait_.

 _How did she know I was a Hunter?_

Before I could press her for more, she raised her hand in a stopping motion.

"It'll be better to save the questions for later. I'm sure they'll be answered by the Marshal soon enough." She said as she began to do the usual doctor routines, starting with strapping a pressure pump onto my arm to find my pulse or something like that.

"Who's he?" I asked.

"He's like a _director_ of sorts here, keeps everything running; "just like a steam engine!" as he likes to say. He happens to be a man though; would that be alright?" She asked while she worked.

For some reason, she used an old west accent when she quoted this Marshal.

"Uh…yeah, sure that's fine." I said.

When it came to men and boys in general, I was usually alright with them; that is as long as they behaved themselves. It's a common assumption that all the members of the hunt hated males, but really it wasn't all of us…

Okay well it's actually most of us… in fact, aside from me, there might be around four others who are mellow with them.

 _Five if you round up._

Some, like me, joined for other reasons. One of mine was because it seemed like a never-ending challenge, and I do love challenges.

"Alright then, you seem to be doing well so I'll have him sent over right away." She said, then walked over to the naiad. "Fetch Actaeon for me, would you? Tell him one is awake." she asked quietly but I still heard it.

 _Actaeon… sounds familiar. Damn, I am really forgetting a lot of names these days. I should just carry a notebook around and write them down as I go._

"He'll be here shortly." she said as she sat in a nearby chair.

"My name is Jane by the way, I'm in charge of this infirmary." she said gesturing to the building around us. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask you a few questions of my own just so I know you're doing alright?"

I thought about what I should do for a second before responded.

 _Was it alright for me to trust these people?_

I didn't know a single thing about them, but from what I've seen, they don't seem to be threatening me or trying to hold me against my will so maybe I can at least give them the basic info if I need to.

So, I nodded in agreement.

"Great. So, first question: Do you know your name?" She asked.

"It's Thalia." I said simply. She raised an eyebrow of intrigue at my answer, then returned to writing on her clipboard.

 _Does she know me from somewhere?_

Alright, how old are you?" she continued.

"Fifteen." I said, in reality I was in my thirties, but I'm going by how I look (and feel).

She raised her eyebrows and smirked while writing the number down, as if she knew I was lying.

"Any current or former injuries, allergies, and/or illnesses I should be aware of?"

"No... Well, yes. I'm allergic to peanuts." I always forget that little bugger.

She nodded as she wrote all this down again on the clipboard, then clicked the pen when she finished.

"Okay, everything is in order. But do you mind if I ask you a more personal question?" She asked to which I hesitantly nodded to.

"You said your name is Thalia? You wouldn't happen to be the same Thalia that's currently the Lieutenant of Artemis's Hunters, would you?" She smirked as she asked, already figuring she wasn't wrong.

"Um… yeah. That's me." I said back, my eyes closing in annoyance.

Fame may be nice, but it gets old fast after you've been asked hundreds of times for an autograph every visit to Camp Half-blood.

"Well my, my; that is a high paying job. If memory serves right, you're a daughter of Zeus?" I nodded.

 _She really has heard of me._ I thought while giving her a confused look.

"We don't hear much out here, but even we've heard of you leading the Hunt in both wars. You only became their lieutenant a few months after you joined them, right? That must have been a tough position to fill." Jane continued.

"It… had its challenges." I responded, still uncomfortable with how they know more than I expected them to. Either I'm more popular than I take credit for, or they have _very_ good sources.

"Look I really don't mean to be rude. But can you please tell me how my girls are doing? There should have been four of us out there, did you find them all?" I asked.

I already figured Alice might not be here, but I could always hope that my dreams can in fact be wrong, sometimes at least.

Jane gave me a look of sympathy.

"Well as far as I know dear. They only found three of you out there. One is in the bed right next to you." She said gesturing her hand to my right.

I look over and sure enough, there was Faith lying down peacefully asleep, she also wore a patient's gown and had a bandage over her forehead.

She looked almost like snow white while she slept, a bruised and pale snow white, but nevertheless.

As if she was foretelling what I was going to say, Jane answered my question before I could ask.

"She'll be alright. She received a serious head injury and had severe bruises around her body and neck, we patched her up well and good. She should heal up with some good rest, but she'll probably be sleeping for another day or two." Jane said as she eyed a clipboard she took off Faiths bed.

I breathed deeply in and out in relief and looked around for Carson but couldn't see her anywhere.

"Where's the other hunter you found?" I asked Jane who stiffened at my question.

 _That's never a good sign._

Before she could use her voice, she was stopped mid-breath by another voice.

"That there would be a question that maybe I should answer."

 **A/N - This was one pickle I didn't want to eat. This Chapter was over twenty thousand words originally! And it wasn't easy to find a good place to leave off.**

 **Next –** Ch.7: A Little Tour


	7. A Little Tour

**Legacy: Orphans of Legends**

 **Ch 7 –** A Little Tour

 **Thalia POV**

I looked over to where the voice had come from and standing in the entrance way was a tall mid-age man with curly brown hair and a trimmed beard.

He wore an old looking brown leather vest that had antler markings on it with a pocket watch chain dangling from the lower pocket.

He had a white dress shirt on with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and blue rustic looking pants. He held a brown cowboy's hat in his hand that also had antler markings on it.

He reminded me of a western version of Chiron, if you had combined him with John Wayne and without the wheelchair/horse body.

"It's nice to make your acquaintance, the name's Actaeon, I'm the Marshal of the town." he said as he walked over to my bed and sat in another chair, making a dad grunt as he did.

"And I'm glad to see your looking better than the first time I saw you laying there." he said, giving me a kind smile.

He seemed well at ease and gave off an aura of a teacher.

"Yeah, thanks." I said, feeling awkward for some reason.

"So… back to my question. Where is the other hunter you saved, and where exactly am I?" My head was bursting with questions, and I was starting to feel like they were purposefully keeping information from me.

Actaeon looked like he was expecting this, letting out a slow sigh as he started fiddling with his hat in his hands.

"The… third hunter that was brought here. She… she didn't make it." He said with nothing but sorrow in his voice.

I froze; my body, my mind, even time seemed to stop. What little drive I had left felt like it couldn't or wasn't willing to believe what I had just heard.

"No… Tell me your lying." Tears began forming in my eyes.

"Please… just tell me she's alright. That she's missing, that she's captured, that she's…anything else but THAT!" my cheeks felt hot and my throat ached.

My head dropped down at my legs, the blanket being squeezed for dear life by my shaking hands trying to control the sobs that were fighting to come out.

"No…" I failed!

 _I had sworn I wouldn't let another hunter die on my watch. I didn't care if Artemis, Dad, or anyone else said that it was an impossible promise to keep. If I can't even keep my friends safe, then I don't even deserve to be in the Hunt! Not if this keeps happening!_

Outside, a light drizzle began to fall as a dark cloud suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The weather often mimicked my moods if they were strong enough.

They most definitely were now.

I felt a hand on my arm and pulled me in for a small hug that I unconsciously leaned into, not caring so much who was trying to comfort me.

"It's okay dear, just let it out. Someone should always cry for the lost." Jane's voice said to me as more teardrops fell onto my lap.

I wrapped an arm around her, and my Hoover Dam opened up both on the bed and outside.

But I didn't care.

After I don't know how long, I finally seemed to stop crying and began to breathe. But Jane still held me gently, which I was extremely grateful for.

"We don't gotta do this now if you need a little more time." said Actaeon, who had sat patiently with sympathy on his face.

I took in a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly.

"I-I'm okay." I said, then breathed in a few more times for good measure.

I untangled from Jane, giving her a thankful nod while she still stayed sitting on the bed. I looked over to face the old western looking Marshal.

 _Focus Thalia, you can_ _mourn_ _tomorrow, but today you need answers._ I thought to myself as I stuffed the pain away for a later time, a process that I was very used to doing.

"W-what about my missing hunter? What happened to her?" I asked.

No doubt I had a hint of desperation in my voice and my eyes. Actaeon gazed into them for a second as if checking to see if I really was ready.

Apparently, I convinced him since his face changed back to his original look of calmness.

"We think she was captured before my kids arrived to help you. But, don't you worry, we've got the best tracker out there right now tracking her. Actually, I think you might've already met her." Actaeon said.

I tried to think back to the battle, and only one person came to mind.

"The girl with the cat ears?" Actaeon nodded at my guess, gaining a look of amusement at my choice of words.

"She said her name was Atalanta. But she couldn't be the _real_ thing, right?" My question was answered with a grin of amusement that told me he wasn't going to correct me.

"But I thought she died ages ago back in Greece?" I said, still trying to piece everything together, but Actaeon kept his knowing smirk on.

Now why was I making such a fuss over this?

Well Atalanta was practically a legend of her own in the Hunt; one of the very first original when Artemis brought it to life.

All of the stories I've heard from the older Hunters say that in the ancient days; if there were ever a Hunter that Artemis had considered equal in skill with her own, it was Atalanta.

She was a part of the Hunt for a few thousand years, then left. No one seems to know why.

Afterward she took part in numerous adventures and quests with other heroes, even managing to find love if you can believe it.

The last I'd heard of her was that she'd been turned into a lion after angering my father, though no one seems to know the details and I don't exactly have pops on speed dial to ask about something that happened a thousand years ago.

 _Probably doesn't even remember why anyway. He smites a lot; and I mean a LOT of people for various reasons that often only make sense to himself._

Actaeon gave a small laugh that brought me out of my thoughts before answering my question with a sly smile.

"Yep, you'd be right on the ball about that. Old cat ears _is_ the genuine article. Rest assured, if anyone can find your friend, she will." his eyes were serious, telling me he believed his words to his core.

That was a relief to me.

Knowing that a living legend was out there looking for Alice meant there was a better chance at finding her.

From my dream, I couldn't tell where she was, but it definitely wasn't anywhere near here.

"What about the hunter who…" I couldn't even finish for fear of losing myself again. Jane rubbed my arm with her hand, making it easier for me to focus.

"What happened to her?" It was a tough question, but one I needed answering.

"The last time I saw her was when we were fighting in the woods, she was getting her wounds treated by some other girl I didn't." I said, trying my best to remember all the details I could.

"From what the others said, that girl was trying to save your friend from her wounds. They brought her here with them." Jane said as she still sat next to me for comfort.

I nodded, took a deep breath, and exhaled; still trying to process everything I was being told.

The back of my head still felt a little drowsy, so all this information felt like an extra 10 lbs. added weight to my brain.

My thoughts couldn't help but drift back to Carson and how much of a hole there was now in my life.

She was one of the first people to accept and support me as the new Lieutenant, she'd taught me everything there was to know about tracking.

She was one of those people who help hold a group together through tough times. This is going to hit the others even harder.

Jane continued to comfort me which I was grateful for; I only met her a few minutes ago, but her efforts to calm me were the only reason I was not causing a huge thunderstorm to appear outside.

It kinda felt like the first time my mom took me to get a flu shot when I was little; the nurse sat next to me and gave me encouragement throughout the whole thing since my mom was not exactly very _involved_ with my life, and no five-year-old likes needles.

"We hadn't… _done_ anyth'in to her yet cept cleaning her off her, I figured hunters had a special way of honoring the fallen." Actaeon said.

I nodded. "Yeah, we do…Thanks." I said. He gave me a friendly nod in understanding.

I was beginning to think this was not his first time dealing with the Hunt, he seemed too… relaxed.

Most guys who know anything about the hunters became guarded and on edge, but he seemed different; almost like he was used us.

After a few more minutes of us just sitting while I continued to slowly process the information, I decided to press for more.

"So, where am I right now?" I asked Actaeon, who began to scratch his beard slightly, seeming to ponder my question as if he was trying to find a certain way of saying the answer.

"Well… how should we put this?" He said as he leaned forward, placing his elbow on his knee and still scratched his chin.

"You're in a... _remote_ area with not too many traces of civilization 'round. Really, you're not _supposed_ to be here, but given your situation, it was decided that you and your friends could be an exception. For now, at least." He explained.

"That's not really answering her question Actaeon, I'm sure Atalanta would agree that she can be trusted." Jane pleaded, apparently not satisfied with Actaeon's answer.

"Scamander and Lignum would probly say different." Actaeon countered.

"Oh please! Scamander would argue against a mouse being let in, and Lignum probably wouldn't care either way." Jane retorted.

The cowboy grunted at that.

I had no idea who these other people they were talking about were, but I was glad to see that Jane's argument seemed to be winning as Actaeon dawned a look of defeat.

"Ah… I suppose you got a point." Actaeon admitted while scratching the back of his head, then he turned back to me.

"You'll have to forgive me missy, but you see this here place has tried very hard to keep hidden for a long time." he said, but it only just confused me.

"What do you mean? Why would you want to hide, and from who?" I asked.

"Oh, you know them aw too well. Yer Pa happens to the king of the bunch." he said, then laughed as if he just remembered something funny.

"You mean Olympus?" I asked, he grudgingly nodded a yes.

Now in my experience, if your hiding from the Olympians, it means you're on the 'god's don't like you' list.

Which didn't surprise me.

My family has never exactly been very likable, and they don't like others very much on the best of days. Actually, it's rare for them to like each other most of the time. It makes family get-togethers very awkward and annoying.

"Why?" I asked

"Ha! Where do I start?" he said with a sarcastic chuckle.

"I guess you could say we are the 'unwanted'. Been running and hiding since the days of old when everything was back in classic Greece and Rome. Ah… the good old days." Actaeon said glancing at away as he remembered something or other.

 _Seriously, is this guy Chiron's twin or something? They both talk a lot but somehow don't give every detail they really know._

"Are you fugitives or something? Not that that's a bad thing." I added just in case.

One thing I've learned was that it's not a good idea to anger the ones who saved you and are currently treating your wounds and a friend in even worse shape.

"Hah ha! Na, not exactly. Some here might be, but most are simply the unwanted, forgotten, or castaways." Actaeon corrected.

"Um… I don't really understand." I said still not getting any straight answers.

 _It's like they're trying to dodge my questions with half answers._

I remember conversations like this with the Stoll brothers whenever I asked them about how they pull off their sneaky tricks on us.

 _They're still the only ones to this day that never broke under my glare!_

"Maybe it would be better if you gave her a little tour Actaeon, that way she could stretch her legs and get some fresh air." Jane said, then turned to me.

"Your wounds should be well healed, moving around will do you some good, but avoid any strenuous tasks." she recommended.

"I guess that there's an idea, you up for it missy? I _guarantee_ you'll be impressed." Actaeon said with encouragement.

"Sure, I guess." I said halfheartedly. "But don't call me missy."

He simply giggled at that as he stood up.

My questions were still barely half answered, but I doubt I'd get any further staying in this bed; once I'm outside, I can get a better picture of what's happening and what my next move is.

Jane helped me out of bed then looked back at Actaeon, motioning for him to leave. He seemed confused for a moment but then _Ah'd_ in realizing that I had to change and left.

"Ugh, that man can be as clueless as a rock sometimes. Here, we've got some new clothes for you. Your old ones were barely holding together." she said as she handed me a bundle of folded clothes.

Some underwear, a pair of blue jeans, a blue short-sleeve shirt that had a gold skinny horse design on it, and some sneakers.

 _Not exactly my style, but they'll do for now. But for some reason I feel like it's my first day at Camp Half-Blood all over again._

They also had my silver circlet on the top, a glare from the sun light reflected off it, you'd never have guessed it had been dirtied, covered in sweat, and dried blood just last night.

"I'll leave you to it. If you need anything, I'll be in the hallway." She said which I nodded an okay and she left too.

I picked up the circlet; it was light but had a huge weight to it all at the same time.

I stared down at it with disappointment that was meant for no one but myself, I was almost tempted to leave it.

 _I don't deserve this._

I put it down, then began to change into the clothes.

After taking my gown off, I checked myself over; there was still a bandage over my shoulder wound that was kept on with medical tape. The one on my calf wasn't really any better.

My muscles ached at my efforts to lift and stretch my limbs into the clothing, I was careful not to be too rough on my bandages. 

After I was done, I took one last look at my circlet.

For some reason it didn't feel right to wear it anymore, not after… everything.

 _It just… doesn't feel right._

After a glance at Faith, I walked over and stood next to her bed to check on her.

She was still sleeping peacefully. Well… as peaceful as one can be with a bandage wrapped around your head.

Jane said she'd be okay, but I was still worried. She was the only friend I had left that was still with me and I intended to keep her that way.

I placed my circlet on a nightstand next to her bed, it was as good a place as any for it.

A nock on the door made me jump on reflex.

"Are you all set dear?" Jane asked from a cracked opened door.

"Y-yeah, I'm good." I said.

The door opened and I soon felt a hand on my shoulder, making me look up to see Jane giving me an encouraging smile.

"She'll be fine dear, I promise." She said, noticing that I was not comfortable leaving her alone. I gave her a thankful look.

I took one last look down and gave Faith's arm a squeeze.

 _Hang in their Faith, I'll get us out of this and back home._ I thought and then headed out to meet up with Actaeon.

Jane followed me as I went, directing me through the infirmary. But I barely paid much attention to it.

It just looked like an average emergency room building with random flower pictures and indoor plants.

After we reached the main doors, she gave me some last-minute reminders.

No straining myself too much and to take things slowly, I agreed as any patient would (although I wouldn't promise anything) then turned to leave.

When I opened the door, and stepped out of the building, what I saw stopped me in my tracks.

 _Woah…_

 **LINEBREAK**

 **Alex POV**

 _Where did that bird go?! He is so grounded when I find him._ I thought.

I was marching around the fort looking for my obnoxious flying companion.

He has always had a habit of going off on his own whenever he feels like it.

He always returns… eventually; tends to take his time and it leads me to worry even though he can usually stay out of trouble.

I made my way along the barracks looking along the sky that had begun to clear from that sudden shower that showed up out of nowhere.

 _Wonder how that happened._

We may have some strange weather sometimes, but not this strange. It lasted for only ten or so minutes, then gradually stopped and left almost as quickly as it arrived.

I looked ahead and noticed Actaeon was standing with his arms crossed by the infirmary. Looking like he was waiting for something.

 _Please don't tell me Jaclyn lost her temper again._ I thought flatly as I remembered that whenever she did, someone usually ended up in the infirmary be it her or someone else.

He had his usual outfit on and wore his brown cowboy hat with a pinched front and deer antler markings on it like his vest and outer coat usually do.

I always wanted to ask him where he got all his custom clothes from, he must have paid a boats worth for it.

"Is everything alright Actaeon?" I asked him, knowing that he also tends to lose track of something or other from time to time too.

 _Though considering that I lose track of my partner all the time, I'm not exactly in any position to judge, now am I?_

"Good afternoon to you _too_ my boy." He said sarcastically, pointing out I didn't great him the same way.

"I'm just fine, thank you. Just wait'n on one of our guests to come out for a little tour." Actaeon said bringing his hands to his hips and a smile on his face.

"What guests?" I asked, not remembering hearing anything about- "Wait. You mean those girls from last night?"

"Yup." He said, not even taking his eyes off the door.

"So they finally woke up." I said to which he shook his hat at me.

"Only one so far, she just happens to be the leader, so we just might get a more proper meat-and-greet." He said.

"That's good news but… do you really think it's a good idea to show one of them around here. Showing an outsider could present a-"

"Oh, stop yer worry'n Alex, it does no one any good." He interrupted me. "Besides, they're still our guests first and anything else second; it be rude to keep em locked in the infirmary like prisoners."

I sighed at his reasoning "I suppose so sir."I said, conceding to his reasoning.

For someone who is supposed to help keep this whole Ranch a secret, I've found Actaeon tends to take things a little too easily.

"Besides, they'd probably go and sneak around even if we did keep em in." He added matter-of-factly with a light chuckle.

"What 'bout you boy, what brings you wondering around the Box? Usually you're in the library studying at this hour." He asked which caused me to sigh in annoyance while glancing at the sky.

He gave me an odd look at my annoyance, then gained a look of mischief. "He gone and flown away again, hasn't he?" he said with a sly grin.

I grimaced at my tutor's observability.

"Yeah, he's probably off hunting a mouse or something, it is around the time when he eats." I said to him to which he started laughing.

 _I really need to work on my poker face, Thaddeus says I'm almost too easy to read at times._

"Ah, there you are. I see the clothes are fitting you well." he said looking back at infirmary entrance.

I followed his gaze and saw one of the girls we saved a night ago standing in the opened door way of the infirmary, she was the one who had the short, black, and spiky hair.

She was wearing standard Ranch clothes that were probably given to her because her original had been shredded.

There was a look of amazement on her face as she looked all over the Ranch, her electric-blue eyes were wide with wonder and amazement.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Actaeon grin at her reaction.

I rolled my eyes at my teacher, but I couldn't blame the girl for her reaction, I was the same when I first arrived here.

But I could also see faint traces of crying on her face, she must have not taken the news of that night well.

"Ha, ha! Careful missy, might catch flies that way." Actaeon said, breaking her out of her stupor and she immediately closed her mouth that had been open since she stepped out.

I saw a bit of annoyance and embarrassment from her at his statement which made me laugh inside.

 _He says that every time someone reacts that way._

She made her way down from the infirmary door steps towards us and then looked me over with an inquisitive look that could have been mistaken for a glare.

 _At least she's not full on glaring at me. Jack signed that she had the scariest glare he'd ever seen when she looked at him next to Atalanta back in the forest._

"Who're you?" she asked, while not rudely, it was a bit blunt.

"Um, my name's Alex, you?" I asked, stretching out my hand to shake.

"Thalia." she said and glanced at my hand dismissively which caused me to simply lower my hand awkwardly.

She turned her attention back to Actaeon, ignoring my awkward attitude. _Well that was a poor introduction._

"So, are you finally going to tell me what all of… _this_ is exactly?" she said, yet again rather bluntly, while gesturing her hand to our surroundings.

"Yeah, suppose we should get to it. Alex, mind taggin along. I think another young pair of eyes would help our guest here in… _understanding_ our home." he said giving me the _help me_ look which I thought was amusing on his face of all people.

Let's see: Walking around with a girl who has been taught to hate men, or continue looking for my obnoxious companion that barely stays in one spot for more than a few seconds?

I think I'd prefer the latter, so I better try to "weasel my way out", as Jaclyn calls it.

"I would like to help, but you see, I still have to find my friend so I'm afraid I can't-"

A flutter of wings interrupted me, I looked to the source only to see a familiar red tail hawk sitting innocently on Thalia's shoulder.

The Hunter looked a little startled at first but relaxed as if a bird-of-prey landing randomly on her shoulder was not a new thing to happen to her.

"Well who might you be?" a smiling Thalia asked while petting the bird with her finger.

The Hawk rubbed his head against hers affectionately.

 _Wow, he's not usually that nice to… anyone, actually. I'm the only one he seems to 'tolerate' most of the time…traitor._

"His name is Aiden, he's mine I guess; lives here on the Ranch, but he often flies off to do his own thing." I said while glaring at the hawk who didn't take any notice of my current anger towards him.

"Aiden huh? Nice name, must be one of the smart ones here." She commented, though it sounded more like an insult.

"He's at least got good taste." She added, giving me a sly look from the side, apparently liking the idea that the bird liked her and sensing my jealousy.

"Yeah, well now that there is settled, how 'bout we get this tour on the roll." Actaeon said and began walking towards the Box's western watchtower.

I followed and after a little hesitation, Thalia did as well with Aiden still planted on her shoulder.

As we walked, I leaned in to whisper to Actaeon so that Thalia wouldn't hear.

"So, uh… what's the plan? Buy her trust, make her feel safe, lock her up and force her to swear she never saw anything here?" I asked.

I may have been slightly exaggerating, but I've never been in a situation like this. So if Actaeon had a game plan, I wanted to know what is was.

He glanced at me then back at the hunter who appeared too busy glancing around her to notice the movement, then to me again.

"We this the old fashion way my boy. We _talk_ to her." He said.

"And…?" I said after expecting there to be more.

" _And_ that'd be it. We just explain her situation, _then_ see what she's got to say." Actaeon said.

I would have pressed on, but he gave me a look that stopped me before I could utter a syllable.

"Many wrong do-ins have happened in the past all cause of ah lack of simple talkin, best not to repeat those mistakes, eh?" He said.

I guess that made sense, but I was still anxious. Scamander's warning about Actaeon still had me thinking about what could have happened between him and the Hunters.

The rest of the walk was mostly in silence. I couldn't help but notice a lot of eyes looking at us as we went. But they weren't so much looking at us as they were looking at Thalia specifically.

I had to admit, she didn't seem bothered. She simply kept walking and turning her head to look around.

Her face was calm and observing, but her eyes seemed focused, like she was on the lookout for… well anything, I guess.

As we approached the tower, Aiden flew off the Hunter up to the top.

Thalia didn't seem disappointed to have him leave though.

Actaeon entered first while I stood aside allowing Thalia to go through first.

She stopped for a second to glare and gave me a rolling pair of eyes.

Huffing annoyingly at my gentlemanly act, she stormed pass while shaking her head slightly.

 _I wonder if every hunter is as polite as this one?_

We began our way up the steps to the top.

The inside of the tour wasn't much other than the inner frame. But I still found the walls and beams a little too close quarters for my taste.

Once at the top, we had an almost perfect view of the Box and the surrounding area.

All four towers were just above the height of the buildings, but this one had the best view of both inside the Box and outside in the valley.

I noticed Thalia had once again donned a look of awe at the sight of the valley.

Actaeon noticed too and smiled as he stretched his arm out to the scenery.

"Welcome to the Trojan Horse Ranch Miss Thalia." He said rather dramatically.

We spent the next few minutes pointing out various buildings and locations, she seemed to be amazed by all of it.

Actaeon made sure to leave out key details like our defenses and numbers.

" _Trust was something that was earned around here."_

That's what Scamander always said, but it looked like Actaeon was taking a more open approach.

 _Honestly, I was surprised we were being as forthcoming as we were._

She is a Hunter after all, that meant she was loyal to the Olympians (one of them at least), which made her someone we really didn't want around here.

 _Yet here we are._

As Actaeon continued to ramble on about this and that, I gazed around and happen to see a few of my friends doing their everyday routines.

Jorge was coming out of the kitchen with his apron on and dusted off what I assumed was flour.

The twins, Kayleigh and Katrina, were walking side by side towards the library.

Kayleigh had the latest rubix cube challenge in her hands that she had yet to crack.

While Katrina had her nose in a book I assumed was one of those _Light Novels_ she was into.

Then there was Riley who seemed to be wandering around turning her head all over as if she was looking for a lost pet.

 _She must have lost track of Jenna again._ I thought and laughed inside at her predicament.

 _That's gotta be the third time this week, poor girl._

Speaking of Jenna, I noticed Thaddeus walking out the gate with his bow in his hand and a quiver with a sword in its scabbard hooked to it on his back.

He may not try to, but Thaddeus can be a bit of a badass at times and I always look to him for guidance when I need it.

Jack claims that I tend to be a half decent leader most of the time, but everything I learned, I learned from Thaddeus.

He was a good teacher, almost as good as Actaeon, and a lot of kids here look up to him.

Before I looked away, I noticed a ball of light reddish hair sneaking behind Thaddeus at a distance so he didn't notice.

It scurried from tree to tree as if it was stalking him, which _she_ was.

 _Found you Jenna._

I don't know how Thaddeus keeps up with her energetic personality, I'd better remember to tell Riley where she went later so she doesn't freak out _._

"Ah! And over yonder are the various ranges for weapons trainin." Actaeon said while pointing in the direction Thaddeus and his " _shadow"_ were headed.

I glanced over to see if she was still following but Thalia's look of interest seemed to have faded, replaced by her former look of seriousness.

"We also got some varieties of self-defense arts that are-"

"Wait, hold up. You said this was all a Ranch, but what is it all for? Why haven't I heard of it before?" She interrupted, apparently no longer astonished by the landscape.

Actaeon sighed in acceptance.

He was probably trying to avoid that topic as much as possible, but Thalia seemed very determined to get her answers.

"Well, alright then. Guess better now than later." he said turning and leaning back on the chest high wall of the tower with his arms crossed.

"But. Before I tell you anything else, I need you to promise that you'll hear the whole story before making any judgments toward us." He offered.

"No oath on the Styx?" She asked, crossing her own arms and leaning on her leg.

"Not if it's needed. Is it?" He asked with a famous raised eyebrow.

She looked at him through narrowed eyes and shook her head.

"Okay, I'll listen." She said.

Actaeon nodded and seemed to relax slightly at her willingness.

"You could say Ranch's been around for quite a while, back when the frontier of western civilization had barely made it past the Mississippi."

"Settled out here after the Civil War ended, we'd been wandering the wilderness for months trying to find a place that didn't fall under the influence of Olympus. Eventually we landed here, and here we've stayed ever since." he stated.

While Actaeon was talking, Aiden began flying around the tower looking for a perch to land on.

I stretched my right arm that had a rough leather vambrace on it just for him and he dove down, landing gracefully as always.

I handed him a mini-stick of jerky I kept on hand which he ate up. Then I glanced back at Thalia who looked to be taking all the information in at an even pace while Actaeon continued.

"Reason we made all the effort to isolate ourselves is cause the people who end up here typically an't favored by the Olympians in some way or other." he said.

"What kind of people would that be?" she asked inquisitively.

Her blue eyes seemed to spark the more information we gave her.

"Children mostly. Demi- _immortals_ of all kinds and age." he answered, putting confusion on Thalia's face.

" _Demi-immortals_? Don't you mean _demigods_?" she asked.

 _Here's where things get interesting._ I thought while trying to avoid Aidens beak from nibbling at my ear for attention.

"No, not specifically. We got a few of em around, but most of our rancher's parents, while immortal, ain't always labeled as _gods_." Actaeon answered eyeing Thalia to see how she would take the information.

Thalia then glanced at me, giving me a once over that I wasn't really comfortable with.

"What are you then?" she asked me. _Yup, I was afraid she'd ask that._

"Hold up their missy." Actaeon said before I could finish thinking of whether to answer or not.

She just glared at Actaeon, probably for calling her 'missy'.

"Rules here say no one is required to mention who or what their parentage is; if they even know at all."

Thalia seemed to be confused by this.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because for most here, mentionin their parents tends to narrow the way they are looked at. If we were at Camp Half-Blood, and a child's parent was, or still is, an enemy of Olympus, they would be judged because of it." Actaeon explained.

But Thalia gave him a look that said she didn't like that reasoning.

"That might have been how it was before, but after all the struggles and losses that we went through in the wars; the Olympians, the camps, they both changed."

"They promised they would pardon all the minor deities that sided with the Titans and Giants, that includes their children." Thalia said in a hostile tone that told you she believed that to her core.

Actaeon just grunted at her attempt at correcting him.

"Olympians promise lots of things huntress." Actaeon said looking at the girl as if he was trying to teach her a hard lesson.

But she just looked even more pissed off than before.

 _This might be a good time for me to chime in before the very angry looking huntress decides to brush up on her castration skills._

"Well, I've heard that there's been a shortening in the number of ranchers we typically have here, so maybe that means they're at least trying." I interjected.

Actaeon simply gave me a slight grunt and looked back out over the valley shaking his head.

"Maybe, maybe not; it's ain't something I'd wager on." Was all he said.

This isn't the first time I've heard that conversation before.

Whether or not the Gods were starting to be more proactive with their children.

Most here didn't think it was worth the risk of being found out; that if Zeus or any of the other gods learned of us, then they'd want to _exterminate_ us like they did with our ranch's namesake.

I have heard there were some who wanted more than to just hide away from the world's problems.

But they were never serious enough to make an argument of it.

I, myself, like to think I'm neutral on that subject, just like most of the others who were my age.

But I didn't really have much of a reason to support opening up to the world.

The wars may have changed things for children like us, but I doubt they would accept me like they would the others.

Zeus himself would probably cast me to Tartarus simply based on who my father was.

"Well that aside, how many do you usually have here?" Thalia asked me while moving over to the balcony, probably catching on that the previous subject was a little touchy to talk about.

I glanced at Actaeon who gave me a nod, telling me I could answer her.

"I've been told we used to have around eighty people here before the wars. After they ended, our numbers almost went to a third of that. Right now, we've got about thirty or so in the Ranch and more in town." I said.

Thalia attention seemed to grab on to something I'd said.

"You have a _town_ here too?" She asked to which I nodded.

"Yup, it's called Saddle Creek, it's small but comfy." I added, she glanced out to the landscape, seeming to think that over for a second then focused on me again.

"What happened here during the wars? Did you guys get attacked or anything?" She asked.

I honestly couldn't answer her truthfully as I didn't know, Actaeon and Atalanta became uncomfortable whenever the discussion came up.

They only ever said that they gave people the choice to stay or go.

Apparently, a majority chose to leave.

Thankfully, Actaeon took the reins of the conversation from there.

"Na, we weren't never attacked, tried to stay out of it all. But like most wars that involve Olympus, you don't often get the choice. At least not without a hefty price." Actaeon said still gazing out on the valley as if he was looking at a memory from that time.

He seemed to age ten years older in an instant because of it.

Thalia was looking down with a similar look, but without the aging.

"I think I understand that much at least. I've had my own experience with having no choice but to be involved." She said back which Actaeon only grunted in response.

 _I wonder what she's talking about? She is a hunter, so she might have lived for centuries of dealing with the Olympians and their problems. That would really suck._

I glanced at the hunter and wondered what her age might be, but quickly caught myself since it might have been seen as offensive guessing a ladies age and simply gazed back out.

Aiden shivered his feathers and flapped his way off my arm, landing on the railing next to Thalia and leaned down as if he was wondering why she seemed unhappy.

She smiled lightly after noticing this and began lightly petting the hawk's feathers with her fingers again.

"So, basically, this place is like the Island of Misfit Toys?" She asked while still gazing at the scenery.

Actaeon gave a small laugh at the comparison and nodded, while I just stood there looking at the girl in confusion.

Thalia caught me before I could snap out of it.

"Do I have something on my face bozo?" She asked sarcastically.

"N-No, no. It's just… I've never heard of a myth fitting that name. Is it new or something?" I asked.

She dawned a look that asked me if I was stupid, but jumped as Actaeon began laughing his head off.

Thalia and I looked at him with matching looks of confusion since neither of us got the joke.

After a minute or two, he seemed to calm down, _slightly_.

"Ha ha, aaahhh…" _cough_ "Missy, I'm afraid you ain't gonna find many round here who remember _that_ little kid's tale." he said still trying to recover from his outburst.

Thalia face began to turn a slight warm color in embarrassment which she tried to hide by looking down at the floor.

I for one was still confused, but I decided not to press the question since it didn't seem to be very important.

"Aaaah, well. Back to business." Actaeon said after a few minutes of him still recovering.

"To sum it up, you don't fit in at the other camps, then you're welcome here, as long as yeh follow the rules." He added the last part with a finger in the air.

"Then why try to hide?" Thalia asked, Actaeon gave her a look of seriousness in response.

" _Fear_ , huntress. Fear that if the Olympians learn of us, then history will repeat itself once again." he said, Thalia just gave a now all too familiar look of confusion.

Actaeon noticed and began to clarify.

"Think about it, the last wars were fought before back in the old days. Now they've repeated themselves. You've had to at least seen one or two acts that had already been done by some other hero before?"

This changed Thalia's look to one of focus, then to realization at his words.

"Okay, then which _act_ are you trying to avoid?" She asked.

Actaeon simply smirked at her.

"We an't called the _Trojan_ Ranch for nothin kid." He replied.

 **A/N – You know, I've found that you can never** **proofread** **your own work over and over, then believe you've corrected every error you made.**

 **Next** – Ch 8: Out on the Range


	8. Out on the Range

**Legacy: Orphans of Legends**

 **Ch.8 –** Out on the Ranch

 **Thalia POV**

You'd think at this point I'd be stunned or awe-struck; but really, I was just annoyed.

The idea of history repeating wasn't too big of a shocker, I've kind of already noticed it before but haven't given it much thought.

But if he meant what I think he meant, I was in for a world of trouble whether I liked it or not.

 _That, and a headache._

"You can't honestly be talking about the Trojan War, right?" I asked, my tone sounding every bit as annoying as I felt.

But the look he was giving me said this was anything but.

"That can't be right." I said.

"Why not?" Actaeon said arching an eyebrow.

I tried looking for a good reason but found none that came to mind.

"Trust me on this one missy, I'm hopin' that it's not true too. But, can't afford not to consider it." He said.

Before I could ask anything else, a high whistle caught our attention from the ground.

"Hey Actaeon! You up there?" A girl's voice shouted up.

We looked over the railing to see an Asian girl with orange highlights in her black hair looking up at us.

I heard a quiet sigh come out of Actaeon, which said he probably found this girl to be a regular annoyance.

 _Like Clarisse was to Chiron._ I thought, remembering my old friend.

"What now Jaclyn?" Actaeon shouted down to her.

"Your late to your survival class again you old geezer!" Jaclyn shouted back, forcing Actaeon to grunt in annoyance.

"Thaddeus was supposed to cover." He shouted back.

"Can't find him You're the next best thing!" She shouted back.

Then Alex sighed before joining in on the shouting.

"He just walked out towards the ranges, go look for him there." He said, but the girl just huffed at his question.

"I am _not_ going all the way out there just to bring his ass back here!" she said rather bluntly as if it was the hardest task there was to do.

 _Well, she definitely talks like Clarisse?_

"Augh! Fine damn it! Fine! I'll be a minute." Actaeon said, finally giving in.

He turned to me with a thoughtful look before he turned to Alex.

"Could you take over for a few hours, show her around and answer whatever questions that you can?" he asked.

Alex was hesitant, but nodded his head in acceptance; then Actaeon looked back at me.

"Sorry to leave yeh high and dry, but duty calls." He said with a smirk that reminded me to much of Percy's.

He turned and started walking for the opening to the stares.

"Wait!" I said before he could leave through the opening.

He turned his head back looked at me in an expectant look.

"I need to call the Hunt." I said.

It wasn't a question.

Despite how much I could learn about this place, getting home and telling them what happened _and_ that we still have Alice out there to find.

"Ha!" Was his answer as if it was a joke.

I wasn't laughing.

"Oh you ain't joking." He finally realized, I shook my head to answer him.

Actaeon seemed to think for a few seconds, gazing off into the scenery behind me like some western cowboy trying to come up with a catchy punch line.

"I'll think on it." He said as he turned and continued down the stairs before I could press, leaving me annoyed as hell at his unhelpful response.

I looked to Alex for answers seeing as how I wasn't going to get anything from the _cowboy_.

I gave him the 'what the heck' pose, but he just shrugged.

"Oh come on! I have to call them! They're worried sick about us by now and will start looking for us." I pressed.

But he didn't seem too worried about my predicament since he seemed to be more interested in feeding his hawk another stick of jerky.

"Look I know that this is hard, but it's _probably_ not going to happen." He explained, looking as innocent as a stupid kitten.

"Why the hell **not**!?" I yelled, forcing him to jump back at my rage.

Which was a little satisfying at least.

"Listen here bird boy! I have one hunter who's knocked out, one who's missing, and one who's-!" My voice froze on the last part.

I was still unwilling to say it out loud.

Losing friends was a sad norm for my line of work; it never got easier, it only got heavier.

Seeing as how the boy was now too stunned to say anything, I took a deep breath to regain control over myself before I continued.

"After all that's happened, I need to get back to the Hunt as soon as I can." I gave Alex a look of determination that said I wasn't taking "no" for an answer, though it seemed he was not really moved by my attempt at intimidation.

Instead he looked to have recovered from my outburst, putting up a serious face of his own.

"Sorry, but that's not my call to make." He said.

"It wasn't a request." I said, stepping a little closer for intimidation.

"It's still isn't up to me. Actaeon's the one you need to convince. He doesn't really trust y-"

"Then why the tour!? Why show me so much!? Why tell me all of _this_ if you don't trust me!?" I interrupted, crossing my arms and increasing my glare.

Strangely enough, the kid actually seemed to think for a sec before answering like even he didn't know why.

"Well…I guess Actaeon wants to get _you_ to trust us first." He answered.

"Again, _**why**_?!" I said with more annoyance.

 _These people are so confusing! Or maybe it's just this kid!_

Alex seemed to think yet again for a few more seconds before replying.

"I…don't know." He said.

"Well then point me in the direction of whoever's ass I need to kick to get my answers!" I said, now standing so close that I could see my reflection in his eyes.

I was on the verge of full on shouting at the kid, even if it wasn't really his fault; but after all I'd been through the past few weeks, I needed to get back in control of things.

Children of Zeus don't do well in uncontrollable situations.

Thunder could be heard rumbling off in the distance, mirroring my annoyed attitude.

But, to his credit, Alex held his ground.

He either had some balls or didn't know when to back down.

"Look I'm sorry, but just calm down; it's not going to do you any good to shout at me since I don't have any say in what will happen." He said in a new commanding voice that wasn't too impressive.

"Oh, then what can you do, aside from just stand there looking all high and mighty?" I spat at him and he actually flinched that time.

He tensed up suddenly and finally broke eye contact with me, turning to scowl out at the scenery.

I must've hit a nerve there which was kind of surprising; that wasn't even the worst insult I could think of for him right now.

"Do you want to see the rest of the valley or not?" He asked with distaste now in his voice and his gaze avoiding mine.

I looked at him with equal distaste, but I also realized I shouldn't push it with him, all he was doing was trying to do as he was told to do.

He's just a lowly errand boy who happened to be caught at the wrong time.

After a few minutes of both him and myself cooling our tempers down, I answered him.

"Alright, let's see the rest." I said with a little more care in how my tone sounded.

 _If I'm going to be able to get out of here, I'll need to stay on these people's good sides, or at least not piss them off as much as I'd like to._

The kid took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, calming down from whatever stress I had put him in.

By now, I had gotten an overall look of the guy.

He was maybe seventeen or eighteen years old, with low cut, black, flaky hair that was swept to the side.

His overall build was impressive with his upper body looking like a weightlifters.

He was about five ft. eight-ish and wore a blue shirt like the one I had, with tan utility pants that had pockets on his thighs and wore steel toe Keen boots.

There was also a hand radio set on his belt, along with a small holder that I assumed held a pocket knife or multi-tool.

He gave off a park worker look that seemed to suit him.

What really struck out were his eyes, a steel grey that looked like a child of Athena's, but without that common sparkle that you find in a craftsman.

He turned back to me with the same stoic face he had on from before.

"Follow me." Was all he said in a sulky tone, then he turned and walked towards the stairs down to the ground.

His bird flying off the ledge were he'd been perched.

I followed behind the kid with the hopes that I could learn a way to contact the Hunters, and to possibly apologize for insulting him even though I didn't feel too sorry at all for my words.

 _Was I being rude? Yes, but in my defense, I have been through_ a _**lot**_ _of stress lately and sometimes I need a way to release my pent-up aggression._

 _Maybe they have a punching dummy somewhere I could play with?_

As we exited the towers base, Alex began walking towards a big opening that I remembered Actaeon saying was the main gate into the fort.

The doors were massive and made out of giant logs like the rest of the fort, but they looked like they hadn't been closed in years.

 _Guess they don't get attacked by monsters inside the valley, lucky ducks._

I noticed a shadow on the frowned that was circling me and I looked up to see Alex's hawk flying above us.

 _He called him Aiden, right?_

I kinda liked him since he seemed to comfort me when I needed it.

Being the daughter of the sky god, all birds tended to get along pretty well with me.

But none of them ever talked to me in my head like Percy says fish and horses do, that would just be obnoxious since there are literally birds _everywhere_!

I'd get like zero peace of mind.

As we neared the gate, I noticed a few people here and there in my peripheral taking glances at me.

 _Oh great, the familiar_ _oohs_ _and ah's_ _of the on-lookers. Cause I don't get enough of that at Half-Blood._

Getting eyeballed was a common thing for hunters, especially me (daughter of Zeus and everything).

We didn't blend in too well with the crowds.

It feels like I'm a zoo animal sometimes.

As we reached about halfway to the entrance, a group of four came walking out from the right in a cocky kind of stride and stopped in front of us, blocking the way.

There were three boys and a girl that all shared a similar biker gang get up.

Ripped up dark clothes, various leather garments, and a piercing or two.

I honestly found the badass biker look awesome and sported it pretty well myself.

But these guys, they looked like the kind of kids who give bikers a bad name.

The troublemakers.

One boy in the middle looked to be the supposed leader of the bunch.

He had dark chocolate skin with a bald head that had a red bandana tied around it.

He wore a thin black leather biker jacket with a white shirt underneath and sported dark blue tight jeans with black cowboy boots.

His dark brown eyes seemed empty and cold like he had seen death multiple times and gave him high fives.

The rest of the group were not as expressive as the lead guy in their clothing, but they all had a similar kind of clothes.

 _I wonder who gave these clowns fashion ideas, Ares maybe? I hear he started a whole clothing line with the help of his girlfriend._

They were all looking at us smugly, but focused most of their glares my way.

I looked to Alex for anything and saw a look of annoyance towards the group.

 _Like I thought, these must be the local "baddies" of the Ranch._

 _Lovely…_

"Is there something I can help you with Clayton?" Alex asked directing his voice at the lead bozo in a tone that sounded like he was in no mood to do any helping at all for the guy he called Clayton.

"Who's this here Alex? She looks knew, you taking her on the _grand_ _tour_ yeh?" Clayton asked Alex while checking me over with a rather smug look on his face.

He had a snarky kind of voice that sounded a little slurred and condescending at the same time.

But I could faintly make out a British accent with it that seemed like he was raised with the it but slowly begun to lose it.

Or he was doing a bad job at hiding it.

"Yes, she is. I was just about to bring her-"

"Is she one of _them_?" Clayton interrupted.

He said the last word with venom, like he was referring to the ugliest thing in the world.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked in a slow, serious tone.

He seemed to be daring Clayton to answer his question, which seem to do nothing but amuse the guy.

 _These two must not get along very well._

"I mean, is _she_ one of those outsiders you and the others dragged in the other night like a bunch of stray cats?" He annoyingly clarified for Alex.

But now he seemed to no longer even acknowledge that I was there; And I get the feeling he was ignoring me on purpose.

 _If there's one thing that gets me, it's when people talk or ask about you when you're literally right in front of them!_ I thought as I lightly grinded my teeth in annoyance.

" _She_ , is standing right in front of you hot shot, and can answer any questions you have about her!" I interjected.

If there was one thing I hated, it was people who thought they could say whatever they want, whenever they want, about whoever they wanted.

 _Those guys are dicks._

Clayton now turned his full attention on me, scowling as if I was some pathetic idiot.

Suddenly I really wanted to beat this guy up, the aura he was giving off was annoying the hell out of me.

"So, what do you want to know _biker boy_?" I asked, folding my arms and returning his scowl in full.

Clayton just smirked and walked up till he was only a few feet away.

I could tell he was slightly beefing up his chest in a show of masculine superiority.

 _Ugh, men._

"Well _girly,_ who're you and where do you come from?" He asked, adding a mocking tone to the word _girly._

It successfully pissed me off and I would have castrated him right there had I a good knife handy.

"My _name_ is Thalia biker boy, and where I come from is none of your business." I said while glaring at him and clenching my fists that where tucked under my arms.

Actually a fight sounded really nice, I could use an excuse to let out some stress that I've had to carry, and this guy looked like just the perfect punching bag.

"Oh, look at that, the _girly's_ got a temper." One of biker boy's friends with a blonde flat cut hair-do said behind him then punched his fist into his own palm.

"Maybe we should show her how we feel about filth like her around here." He added.

Clayton smirked at that, apparently enjoying the idea of fighting me. The rest of his gang snickered too.

 _Alright! That's It! They. Are. DEAD!_

I punched my own palm and I cracked my knuckles which ignited sparks of lightning across my arms.

All except Clayton in the group seemed to shift back slightly at my display of anger and willingness to fight.

He actually seemed just as eager as me to throw down and didn't look scared of my display.

I made a perfect Thalia evil grin as I savored the coming brawl that I was itching for.

"ENOUGH!" Shouted Alex as he stepped in-between me and the group with his back to me.

"This is not the time or the place for this Clayton." He said in a firm tone.

 _Who does he think he is? My guardian angel or something?_ I thought as I continued to glare at the group.

Clayton also glared at Alex, obviously annoyed by the interruption.

"Why don't you stay out of this little boy, wouldn't want you to get your pride stained with dirt as I drag your face through it." He mocked.

But Alex didn't seem to let any fear show if he had any; in fact, he gained a little smirk before he replied.

"Sure, that is if you really want to explain to Jane how you picked a fight with someone who only woke up an hour ago from the infirmary."

That seemed to hit the right button as Clayton visibly became more annoyed and deepened his glare at him.

But Alex held his ground as they both stared off for a full minute before Clayton conceded.

"Fine!" He growled, then turned his eyes to me.

"Next time _girly,_ you'd better be ready for a fight."

He glanced back and motioned his head to his group.

They all slowly walked past us, Clayton knocking his shoulder into Alex as they passed.

Alex kept his gaze forward, not showing any reaction to the aggression.

While I gave them all glares as they passed, but made no move to antagonize them anymore even though every fiber of my being screamed to destroy each of them, _slowly_.

After I watched them get out of earshot, I turned back to Alex to ask why he interfered but he had already begun walking ahead out of the gate.

"Ugh!"

I grunted, then rushed after him and caught up as he stepped outside the gate.

I grabbed his arm to stop him and made him face me.

"What was that?!" I shouted.

"What?" He asked, as if he didn't have a clue about what just happened.

"Just, look here Big Shot, I can take care of myself! I don't need protection, and definitely not from you!" I said.

"Well I… um…" He stuttered.

"Those punks were asking for it and they need a major beating if they think they can talk to people like that!" I said to him, but he only seemed confused at me.

"Didn't you just get out of the infirmary like an hour ago?" He asked.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well I wasn't joking back there, Jane would've _literary_ kick the crap out of Clayton for fighting you and _you_ would have been put on house arrest or something." He said.

"Yeah well, they were asking for it!" I said, crossing my arms.

"They were lucky I didn't have my spear and shield right now, or I'd…wait, my weapons! Where are they?" I finally realized that I didn't know what happened to them after I blacked out.

 _Please don't tell me they left them out there?_

"They… _should_ be in the armory?" He said, looking off as if he was unsure of himself.

 _Great. This kid just screams relatability._

"I want them back." I stated.

"You can have them back later after we tell you the rules about weapons around here." Alex said flatly like he'd told that before.

I breathed a sigh of annoyance and relief; I hated they were keeping them away from me, but was thankful they weren't lost.

Alex must have noticed because he gave me an inquisitive look, which I've noticed he does a lot.

"Are they special?" He asked, which I nodded to.

"They're gifts, and they've saved me time and time again through I don't know how many battles." I said, recalling the first time dad ever helped me.

"Mmmh, well they should be safe for now." He said, then began to walk past me.

I stayed standing, considering if I could argue more that the lame ass of a gang needed to be introduced to my personal prescription of Hunter wupass, but I figured it wouldn't help me get more answers.

So I simply accepted the small defeat and turned to catch up to Alex.

We walked quietly for a minute before I finally decided to listen to my conscience.

"Hey listen, I'm sorry about before. I'm not the best when it comes to getting along with others very well, especially punks like them." I said.

He looked at me like he was looking at a dog that just meowed.

 _Oh come on! I can be nice when I feel like it._

After a few more seconds, he seemed to decide whatever he was planning to say.

"It's okay, compared to Jaclyn you're not too bad. She would've just started punching the second those guys walked up." He said in a rather jokative tone, but when I looked at him, he still had a plain looking expression on his face.

 _I guess he doesn't express himself too much._ I thought as I made a slight smile at his possible attempt at a joke.

"Anyway, do you still want the tour, or are you more interested in picking another fight?" Alex asked.

I assumed it was sarcasm, but he sounded so serious that it probably was him asking a legitimate question.

 _This dude really needs to tone down the serious meter in his brain._ I thought while making a small laugh.

"Whichever comes first, the day's still young." I said, giving him a sly smirk that he simply gave a huff at, but I could swear I heard a small laugh in there with a twitch of a smile too.

 _So, you can laugh._ _Maybe I can work with this guy._

"Well, lead the way _Mr_. Alex." I said making it sound like I was talking to an over committed teacher and gesturing my hands dramatically towards the dirt path.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head in a helpless fashion as he led the way through the forest trail to a hill.

Once we made it to the top, I was presented with an overlook of another huge clearing by a big deep blue lake.

This must be the training grounds because there were numerous things that you would expect a training area to have.

There was an obstacle course that had all kinds of hurdles, ropes, dirt fields for crawling, climbing walls with various heights and shapes, and a part that went into the water that looked like something out of that old game show called _Wipeout_.

Then there was a normal track on level ground, except it was a dirt track with painted lines on it.

The space in the middle of it was a field that currently was set up for soccer (or as my European hunter/friend Sofia would simply call it, _Football_ ).

Beside it was a baseball field and next to that was a small wooden playground.

On the lake shore, there was a beach with a volleyball court.

 _They've got everything here_ , _all they need is a lava spewing climbing wall and they'd give Camp Half-Blood a run for its money._

There were people milling about and taking part in the various games and sports that could be played here.

They varied in ages, some were young kids, others where teenagers and young adults.

There were a few older adults here and there, most were in pairs of two, playing with one or two kids at once.

 _Those must be families out enjoying a day together._

My mood then began to sower. It had always been difficult to watch families like that.

To me, it was always something that seemed impossible for demigods to have.

Somehow, Percy and Annabeth made it work, along with a couple others from the good old days. But it never seemed to be a life that I was meant to have.

I shook off the thought and composed myself before Alex could notice anything.

The last thing I needed was these people thinking they had a leg up on me or that I was emotionally unstable.

 _Which I'm not!_

Then I noticed something off to the right of the field that looked like a cluster of small buildings on the water's edge.

They all seemed to be made of logs like the for.

I assumed that was their own little town they mentioned, Saddle Creek.

"This, obviously, is our sports field; we have areas for most sports and stuff. Off to the right, you can see the tops of a few buildings in town, it's pretty much the size of a town you'd pass through in 30 seconds on a major road." Alex said while continuing down the overlooking hill.

"You have families here like in New Rome." I stated while glancing at them again on the playground, Alex followed my gaze.

"Yeah… uh. New Rome would be… in Camp Jupiter, right?" He asked, I nodded in confirmation.

"Well we're allowed to come and go as much as we want once you reach twenty-one. A lot of people come here for the summer on vacation. I've never seen Camp Jupiter before, but I've heard that the city is much larger than our town here." He said while continuing to walk.

"Yeah, it is." I said, as I continued alongside him.

as we passed along the baseball field.

"Does that mean you have people here who are from Camp Jupiter?" I asked.

If I played my cards right, maybe I could find someone who knows how to get a message out.

"A few, we get people from all over the place here. But I don't think I've met anyone that came from the Greek camp, but I hear their more relaxed than Jupiter is." He said.

Seeing my opening, I decided to fish for more.

"Do you get more Roman kids here than Greek?" I asked, he thought for a moment.

"No, I'd say it's mostly even. I'm Greek, but my parent isn't a God so there is no cabin for me at Half-Blood. I've been told the Legion would work better because it focuses less on parentage and more on merit or skill." He explained.

"Have you ever been on a quest? _That's true._ I thought, but Half-Blood tends to be less stressful than Jupiter since it's basically a military centered camp.

"Well, have you ever been on a quest? Or do you guys not have those kinds of things here?" I asked trying to go for a different topic.

"Sort of, we don't have any oracles or prophecies here like the camps do. The only times we go out on those types of things is with instances like yours, or when one of our own is in trouble out there." He said as we continued to walk on the outskirts of around the fields.

 _No oracles huh?_

I was actually relieved about that.

If my life was any indication, prophecies really suck.

They give you very little options and force you to guess what or who they could apply to and when.

The gods say that the timing of prophecies are usually random, but I've come to think they are meant for the worst possible time.

Both the last two great prophecies happened just a few years apart! I played a hand in the first one myself.

 _Well… I almost did._

My demeanor dropped at the memories from what happened.

Even after all these years, I was still struggling with the guilt for what I did that got me out of the prophecy.

When I was supposed to be a key player that would have determined the end of the Titan War.

I was a few months away from turning sixteen, and I had just finished a quest to free Artemis from Atlas.

The last lieutenant of the Hunters had been chosen to go with me; we didn't exactly get along.

Back then I actually hated her, she seemed so self righteous of herself and the Hunt that I figured the rest of the Hunters were no better.

But by the quests end, it was her determination and willingness to sacrifice herself that convinced me to join the Hunt even after she'd died.

At first it made living in the Hunt hard, most of the Hunters thought I was a coward for running away and passing the burden off to Percy and my friends while I joined them, became immortal, and seemed to have all the responsibility taken off my shoulders.

It took a while, but I eventually convinced them that the reason I did it wasn't that I was afraid of fighting the Titans.

It was because I was afraid I didn't have the will, or the courage, to do what Percy had to do: _deny power_.

And strangely enough, after understanding my guilt, they insisted that the best thing to do would be to talk to Percy about it.

" _The longer you hold on to this guilt, the harder it's going to be to forgive yourself."_ Artemis had said that to me once.

It made sense to tell him, but I've never gotten around to it.

There was always something in the way; another prophecy, a hunt, or a quest that would put me and my friends in different places constantly.

Then as the years flew by, my old camp friends grew older and I stayed the same, and it became more awkward to try to talk about it.

One of the few back drops of the Hunt is that you can't really have a life outside of it, not one that lasts anyway.

"Consider yourself lucky." I said, Alex looked at me expectantly.

"Prophecies are nothing to be excited about. They've always brought nothing but doom, fear, and pain with them." I said.

"You sound like you've been through a couple?" He stated.

"Heh, yeah; you could say it was something like that." I said, but then an idea came to me.

"If you don't have prophecies, then how do you know when there's a threat or danger to this place?" I asked.

That's the main reason anyone deals with prophecies, they can give hints about possible threats and how to beat them, even if they spell ultimate doom.

Alex seemed to consider this before answering. After a minute of silence, he gives his answer.

"I'm not too sure, Actaeon and Atalanta have always seemed to know everything." He said.

"And what about the wars, what happened here then?" I asked.

"Hmmm. From what I've been told, the Ranch did everything it could not to get involved on either side… for the most part anyway." He said absently as the trail we were walking on began to enter a woodland area again, leading away from the lake area.

"What do you mean 'for the most part'?" I asked in confusion.

This place seems to only offer more and more questions with every answer I get.

"Oh… Well…What I mean is…well..." He stumbled, debating how to word his response.

 _Whenever anyone does that, they are always trying to say a bad thing in a less bad looking way._

 _Or at the very least, when they're hiding something._

"I don't work well with bullshit, so just give it to me straight." I said in an attempt to get a more precise answer from him.

Artemis taught me that the key thing in any interrogation is to maintain control of the conversation so you can get answers that are closest to the truth.

And for me, bluntness was my control method.

While this may just have started as a friendly question and answer type of thing, old habits die hard.

 _Although now that I think about it, I may have used the wrong wording in my last sentence. Oops._

Alex gave me a side glare as an answer and then sighed.

"Well, like Actaeon said; no one is required to stay here, everyone is free to leave as long as they swear an oath that they will never divulge any information about us to anyone." He said.

 _Seems reasonable, keeps their location and existence a secret; but that only sounds like half of the answer._

"But…" Alex began.

 _Ah! Here we go._

"On a normal day, a lot of people here don't like the Olympians to begin with, so when the wars came around and the chance to change how things are came, some decided to leave to try and make those changes happen. But… most ended up choosing the losing sides." He finished with his head held low, giving the ground a look of sorrow.

When he turned to me, he found that I had stopped a few feat back without him noticing.

The realization of what he was saying hit me like a sucker punch.

"What?" He asked.

"You people… you helped the Titans and Giants."

 **Next –** Ch.9: Target Practice


	9. Target Practice

**Legacy: Orphans of Legends**

 **Ch-9** – Target Practice

 **Thalia POV**

Betrayal is a bitter feeling, if it happens enough times to you, you begin to lose the sense of it.

It's kinda like alcohol, the more you drink, the less you taste the bitterness of it.

As I stood there, in the middle of a hidden world, I felt the familiar pang of betrayal by these people who just hours ago had saved me.

 _No more! Not again!_

"I'm leaving." I said before turning and swiftly walking back the way we'd come.

"What? Hey wait!" I heard Alex shout, but didn't look back.

I heard him running up and he walked next to me.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked but I ignored him.

"Was it something I said?" He continued.

I sped up my pace, and kept my glare at the ground.

"Hey!" He said, stepping in my way.

 _Big Mistake._

I summoned a low volt of lightning into my fist and punched him in the chest.

He flew back and landed on the ground.

"Ow…" He groaned as he slowly lifted himself up.

His rubbed his aching chest where I had hit him, after a second he finally looked up to see me standing above him looking like a bird of prey about to strike.

"Ugh… just, hear me out?" He asked, raising his hand up.

I stared down at him.

Did I need to punch him? Probably not. But I don't deal with stress like most people do.

Eventually I just have to hit something. Alex just happened to be the lucky one to receive it.

"Talk." I said, folding my arms.

Alex took a breath of relief before nodding and picked himself up till he was standing.

"Look, it was… _complicated_ back then. Atalanta and Actaeon never like to talk about it. It was a hard time for them." He said.

"Oh sure, I bet watching Olympus get beaten down was such a hard thing to see." I retorted.

"It wasn't their fault! Those kids made the choice to fight!" He said trying to defend his mentors.

I, on the other hand, was pissed off.

I had sparks cracking on my fingertips that ended up scorching a few pods of grass here and there.

But after only a few seconds of rage, I let my anger go after I remembered something.

How Luke and many others who were tricked by false promises made by the Titans and the hard reasons behind their decisions.

 _These people were probably no different._

After a minute of getting my anger under control, I calmed down and looked at Alex who seemed to be ready to argue all day.

Funny thing though, he didn't look that frightened of me.

Most would have taken a few steps back and looked at me like one would an unpinned grenade, but Alex kept an expectant look on his face.

 _This guy is seriously unusual._

A light breeze flew through the trees as another quiet moment passed.

The wind felt calming as it flowed onto my face and through my short hair.

 _Maybe I should try growing it out sometime._ I thought randomly.

ADHD wired brain; leads me to often randomly loss of focus on whatever I'm doing at that moment.

"Alright, sorry I punched you." I said simply.

I wasn't big on apologizing, I did it when I had to but I typically wasn't passionate about it.

"It's okay, I've been hit worse." He said as he continued to stand waiting for me to be ready on my own time.

"So you fought in the war?" He asked.

"Yeah, you could say I had my fair share" I answered.

"Really? Well… I heard a lot of lives were lost on both sides, but it could have been a lot worse if Olympus lost. The Ranch might not be here if they had, that's my opinion anyway." He said.

It sounded like he was trying to comfort me in his own way.

"Oh um… did you ever meet a guy named Percy Jackson?" He asked.

A smirk reflexively formed on my face at the mention on old Kelp Head.

"Yeah." I answered.

"What was he like?" He asked, shifting a little in anticipation like a kid being told his favorite bedtime story.

"He was…" I had to think for a moment on that one.

 _How does one describe someone like Percy?_ I thought, then smiled at finding my answer.

"Everything a hero should be." I said.

Percy really was the best example of a hero. He was selfless, brave, and loyal to a fault.

Lady Artemis herself praised him once as being one of a few boys that are rather bearable.

 _And that's her being nice._

I took one last deep breath.

"So, where to next on this tour?" I said, trying to get back on the main point.

"The skills field, it's where we train with weapons and hand to hand. There are a few ranges that we use for archery, javelin throwing, sling shots, and a few other things." He listed off as we both began walking again.

"Then there are the close-range weapon arenas for swords, knives, axes, and stuff." He listed of casually as if the tense moment from before never happened.

Which I was a little grateful for.

As we continued towards the fields, I glanced at the sky and figured it was getting close to evening.

I also spotted Aiden still flying high above us _._

The rest of the walk went without any conversation between me and Alex.

I couldn't help but feel that I kinda ruined the mood. _I really need to work on my self-control._

But thankfully, the forest was filled with the sound of nature and it made the walk less awkward.

After a few more minutes, we entered another clearing with three different rings that had old wood boarded bleachers surrounding them.

Each ring had a dusty circle in the center big enough to fit a truck in it.

 _These must be the close-range weapons fields._

Surrounding the three arenas was a half ring of five rustic looking wood buildings that were all facing outward.

I'm guessing that on the other side of each building was a firing range.

But the strangest thing was the fact that there wasn't anyone around.

The day was still young and the sun was high and shining; who wouldn't want to be training outside on a day like this?

 _Aside from Nico of course._

I was about to ask about it when I heard the familiar sound of a bowstring being released.

The sound had vibrated off the forest like a snap of a finger in a giant cavern.

It came from behind the center building of the outer ring.

I began walking towards it, not caring very much whether Alex wanted to investigate the sound or not.

He didn't seem to mind as he quietly followed me.

I couldn't really say why I was drawn to the sound. There was just some instinct inside me that said it was the right thing to do.

I rounded the right side of the middle building and saw that it was actually more like a pavilion than a building having only a back wall and the other three sides being open with evenly spaced wooden support pillars.

The pavilion was about twenty meters long and had some more wood bleachers along the black wall.

There were ten separate holding areas along what had to be a firing line.

In the fourth one down was a guy with his back to me.

He was holding an impressive looking dark brown recurve bow in his right hand with an arrow notched but not pulled back yet.

He looked to be eyeing a few targets in his lane of fire that varied in distance and height.

The guy looked to be in his early twenties, about five ft. ten inches in height, with a slight runner physic to him and a light tanned skin tone.

He wore the same kind of t-shirt that I was wearing, deep blue with the golden skinny horse design on the chest, along with light tan cargo shorts and a pair of Keen brand hiking shoes.

I couldn't get a good look at his face, and his head was covered in a coyote tan baseball hat, but I could tell he had light brown hair.

He hadn't noticed me yet so I decided to simply leaned back against one of the pavilion pillars and crossed my arms waiting to see how he did.

Why?

Because I'm a Hunter, and as a Hunter it's only natural for me to be curious about a person's skill with a bow.

Even if it was a random person in the woods.

I heard Alex come around the corner and stopped next to me.

He didn't make any sounds or movements to announce ourselves and just settled for standing and waiting for my curiosity to be quenched.

The boy nodded, having found a good target, and began moving his feet around, trying to find a good posture for aiming and firing.

After a few seconds of this, he seemed satisfied and stared down the firing line, while turning his hat backwards.

Probably so it didn't interfere with his aim.

He took a few slow breaths then raised his arms and pulled back the arrow with his left hand and aimed while exhaling, a moment later he fired.

My eyes followed the arrow (or tried to) as it flew fast and struck a target that was about thirty meters out practically dead centered.

 _Nice._

I noticed several things about him in those few seconds from him adjusting his feet to firing the arrow.

For one: he must have been left eye dominant since he fired with his bow in his right hand.

Secondly: he kept his eyes on the target, not even glancing down when he was positioning himself, relying more on how the stance felt rather than how it was supposed to look.

A habit only experience brings out in an archer.

And thirdly: his movement was very fluent and controlled, his breathing was calm and well timed, and add to that his dead shot aim, he was impressive.

…For a guy at least.

But there was also something else, something unusual.

It was faint and barely noticeable, but I saw something I'd only seen a few times in the Hunt and the Camps.

His arrow, for a split second, had a blue flare to it, like when you hold a knife at just the right angle to the sun and the light reflects directly at you.

But this was continuous.

As the arrow flew, it made a slight blue trail follow it, ending when the arrow hit its mark.

Children of Apollo, at least with those most gifted at the skill of archery, often had that type of effect on their arrows giving them a golden glow as they flew.

It was said that those kids had been blessed by the sun god and so the skill of the bow came as natural to them as running.

The Hunters, of course, had the same effect due to Artemis's blessing and training.

It resulted in our shots flaring silver, but only when we focused enough on our targets.

But this was the first time I'd seen it as a blue color.

"Nice shot." I said finally announcing my presence to him.

He quickly glanced our way, presenting a pair of calm yet vibrant blue eyes that seemed to be analyzing me like a target for a second, but then softened a moment later.

He nodded in acknowledgment, swinging his hat back to normal.

"Thanks." He said as he walked back from the line to a backpack on the bleachers that had a water bottle next to it.

He took off his cap to scratch his head revealing a well-trimmed medium faded crew haircut.

"You're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you, how're your wounds?" He asked after setting his bow down next to the backpack and taking a sip of his drink.

 _He must have been a part of the group that saved us._

"There fine." I replied to him, then glanced down range at the various targets that were available and an idea came to me.

"Mind if I have a go?" I asked.

He gave me an inquisitive look at my question.

"I could use the feeling of a bow in my hand." I said, answering his unspoken question.

It was an odd request to make to someone I had just met, but I had a curious feeling with him.

Plus, I needed the distraction.

He eyed me for a while, glancing towards Alex once, then nodded as if he got a telepathic OK from him.

"No problem, there's plenty of training bows in the storage cabinet over there." He pointed to a row of said cabinets along the other side of the pavilion on the wall.

"Thanks." I said then started walking over to it.

Archery may not be my favorite method of fighting, but being in the Hunt sort-of guarantees that I had to learn how to use a bow and arrow efficiently.

Or at least to Artemis's definition of efficient.

After over fifteen years in the Hunt, it's become a habit of mine to start out most days on the firing range to help calm my mind.

Most people shower, exercise, watch TV, or read.

Me? I shoot sharp objects that could tear through flesh like a knife through butter.

And after the last few days, I needed a little stress relief.

Since I probably won't get my punching bag, this will have to do.

As I passed the new guy, I happen to notice a marking on his right inner forearm.

It looked like a Roman Legion tattoo with the usual SPQR on it with two stripes indicating two years of service in the Legion.

Above that was a symbol that was supposed to represent a Legionaries' godly parent, but I couldn't make his out due to my poor angle of sight.

But I think I might have also seen a small scar that diagonally crossed the two marks below the SPQR.

I took all these details at a glance that lasted no more than a few seconds, though that was all my hunter trained eyes needed.

I quickly turned my gaze away and back to the cabinet before the new guy could spot me looking.

 _A legionary huh?_

I wondered how he'd gotten a mark like that, but I didn't ask about it (yet).

I remember from a few former legionnaires in the hunt that the legion requires at least five years of service

If he only had two, does that make him a deserter?

As for the scar, that could mean anything or nothing.

Scars were never an easy thing to talk about for most people.

I should know, I've got a fair number of my own, each with a story that I could go on for hours telling.

Regaining my thoughts, I went to the cabinet and took a look at their inventory.

There were mostly simple long bows with various sizes and a few compound bows.

I picked out a medium sized long bow since it was the closest thing to the basic Hunter bows.

I pulled the string back to test it and was satisfied with its strength and resistance.

I walked back over and found both Alex and the new guy talking about something or other.

The new guy seemed to become annoyed at whatever Alex had told him and he began shaking his head slightly.

"Not again, did you see her anywhere on your way over?" He asked Alex.

"No, I kept an eye out, but you know how she tends to be sneaky all the time." Alex replied while shrugging.

Obviously, they were referring to something or someone I was not told about.

A lost pet maybe by the sound of it.

"What's up, is someone missing or something?" I asked.

"No, no." The new guy said while waving his hand around.

"Just a troublemaker doing her usual thing, she'll probably show up here eventually." He said as he walked back up to the firing line.

He took out a handful of about two dozen arrows in a quiver that also had a sword in its sheath hooked to the side.

 _That's kind of high end, isn't it?_

He came back and handed me the arrows. "Here, these should work."

I took them and walked over to the box next to his and put the arrows in an empty quiver to the side. I looked down the field and saw six different targets, each one had a marker to tell how far they were.

The closest was ten meters away, with the farthest being about a hundred meters.

They varied in height, but they were all the same basing bullseye target.

The new guy walked into his own box with his own bow in hand, glancing at me expectantly.

"Whenever you're ready Hunter." He said while gesturing to the targets.

I smirked as I picked up an arrow, notched it, positioned my footing without a glance down, took in a breath, and aimed for a twenty meter target.

I released my breath slowly and fired the arrow.

To my annoyance, it hit the second to last ring.

 _Alright, alright, that was just practice._

I notched another and fired again, it hit the second ring from the center of the target.

 _Better, but not acceptable._

I half expected either of them to start mocking me about how bad a marksman I am, but neither of the guys did.

Glancing at my neighbor, I saw him holding one end of his bow with both hands resting on the tip while the other end was resting on the ground.

He was still looking at me expectantly as if he knew that I was testing my bow and was waiting for me to get to the real fun.

I half smirked on the side of my face that they didn't see.

 _Now… I really shoot._

I returned to looking at my targets and notched another arrow, took aim at the same target and let loose the arrow.

My smirk grew even bigger as the arrow imbedded half of its length into the target's center.

 _There's my standard._

After that, I went on auto pilot, notching and firing arrows after arrows.

Again, and again, and again, I was firing at different targets and hitting them dead center each time, even splitting a few of my old shots.

This felt as natural as walking to me.

I fired one more arrow and reached for the next without even waiting to see how the previous one hit only to feel nothing.

I looked and saw that I was out of arrows, I hadn't even realized how fast I was firing.

I quickly took in a deep breath and exhaled since I had shortened my breathing rate while I was in what I like to call: The Firing Zone.

 _Yeah, I know. Lame name but it works for me._

After my breath caught up to me, I looked down the line to see my handiwork and was very satisfied with my results.

Each target had about three or four arrows in it, all of them berried halfway down their shafts and almost dead centered.

 _Damn that felt good!_ I thought as I felt the pride I got when having a successful time like that.

Then I heard a low and lengthy whistle and saw that it came from the new guy as he saw the results of my skills.

"Now _that…_ was awesome. Are you sure you just get off the recovery bed?" He asked jokingly.

I gave a small laugh at his antics.

"You should see me when I'm at a hundred percent!" I exclaimed.

I looked back at Alex and his jaw was half opened and his eyes were fixed on my targets.

 _Heh! The usual reaction I expect._

The new guy noticed this too and snorted a little.

"Hey, uh Alex. You got a little drool on your chin." He said.

It was a lie, but Alex's reaction was very satisfying.

After I finished my light bit of laughing, I looked back to the new guy.

"Thanks by the way, it felt good to get that out of my system. Now let's see what you got." I said in a challenging voice, a little competition never hurt anyone (most of the time at least).

He raised an eyebrow and gained a smirk at my challenge.

Taking a firing position (again, not even glancing at his footing), he grabbed an arrow from his quiver that had only a dozen and notched it.

He gazed down at his targets and took a few slow breaths.

As he inhaled the last one, he brought his bow up and pulled back on the string at the same time and began aiming at the targets.

He exhaled slowly and held for a split second, then released the arrow.

As it flew fast through the air, it once again momentarily gleamed blue and then imbedded itself at a quarter of its length almost in the very center of the of the farthest target.

Not a dead center bullseye, but closer than the average Apollo archer.

He then continued firing arrows and hitting the targets in close groups of their centers till he was out or ammo like I did.

He was slightly less fluent than I was, but his form was good and his breathing was well controlled, his aim was point on too.

I was impressed; sure, I was better, but I was a Hunter.

After all the countless lessons and battles, archery had become a natural bodily function for me.

But you could tell this guy's skill was very well honed and practiced.

He must have started when he was young, some things took years of training to get as good as a pro.

"Not bad, your form was very good and your aim was nice. You practice often?" I asked.

"Yeah, just every other day I come out here. Sometimes I hold a few classes on it and introduce others to the skill, but most are like little kids trying to mimic their parents tying shoelaces." He said with a laugh at the end that I joined in with.

I have to say, it felt good for my skill to be acknowledged by someone and talk normally with them, even if I didn't know their…

 _Oh Gods! We don't even know each other's name yet here we are assessing each other's skills with a bow like professionals or something._

"By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Thaddeus, Thaddeus Martin." He said enthusiastically, stretching his hand out.

I found it comedic that we were both thinking the same thing at the same time yet he beat me to the punch.

"Thalia." I said as I took his hand and shook it.

 _I think I'll get along alright with this guy._

He reminded me of someone that I couldn't put my finger on, but I felt a familiarity with Thaddeus that made me think of him as a friend even if I don't know him.

"Well then Thalia," Thaddeus began, "as the official Ranch Archer Extraordinaire, I-" He was cut short by something… _unexpected_ before he could finish.

A small figure with light reddish hair suddenly swung over the top of the pavilion and landed on Thaddeus's shoulders.

"Gotcha!" Screamed a young girls voice as she landed and wrapped her arms around his head, blinding him.

Thaddeus stumbled for a second almost falling down.

Luckily, I still had his hand and helped him stay on his feet.

He strangely dawned a smile and laughed as if this whole thing was no surprise to him and in fact found it entertaining.

"Jenna! What did I say about climbing around buildings!" Thaddeus yelled yet his tone didn't sound angry at the girl currently giggling her head off at his reaction.

"I gotcha! I gotcha! I gotcha!" Jenna singed, clearly not interested in Thaddeus's question.

"Oh we'll see who's got who!" Thaddeus said grinning as he reached up and grabbed the girls' waist and swung her off his shoulders and into his chest, where he began to tickle the young lady with no mercy.

"Now _I've_ got you!" Thaddeus yelled as he attacked the girl who seemed to be screaming in giggles and thrashing around trying to escape the onslaught.

I was kinda frozen in place for a few seconds, then started uncontrollably laughing at the scene in front of me, and it felt _so_ good to laugh.

It seemed like forever since the last time I've laughed this hard.

Even _serious_ Alex began to laugh off to the side at the show.

After what felt like a full hour of laughter, everyone began to simmer down.

The girl called Jenna had a few tears caused by the relentless onslaught of tickling from Thaddeus.

"So-heh, who's this little hopper?" I asked Thaddeus after finally catching my breath.

"This here is Jenna, my own private troublemaker!" He said smiling down at the girl and ruffled her hair and caused the girl to giggle some more.

"Jenna, this is our new friend Thalia, go say hello." He said.

The little girl ran up to me and quickly hugged my legs.

"Hi Thalee, you smell like a pine cone!" she admitted.

I laughed at how she tried to say my name but didn't get it right and also compared my sent to a Pine tree ( _soooo glad Percy isn't here, I'd never hear the end of it!)._

 _But she is so adorable! But… also familiar._

I can't place it, but this little girl also reminds me of someone else too.

 _That seems to be happening a lot around here._

"Hey there, it's nice to meet you too Jenna." I said to her.

The auburn-haired girl smiled at me then walked back over to Thaddeus and motioned for him to pick her up by reaching out her arms.

Thaddeus took the girl into his arms and leaned her against his hip.

"Now, aren't you supposed to be with Riley?" He asked the girl who immediately looked down guiltily.

"She's boring, she only wants to go to the book house!" Jenna said while sulking somewhere at the ground, but only Thaddeus raised an eyebrow at this.

"Boring eh? Well I can't do much about that, she probably thinks you're boring too." Thaddeus stated. "And I thought you liked stories?"

"She only picks stories with no pictures, I like the pictures!" She pouted, which made sense considering how young she looks.

He only smiled and sighed at her reaction. And I found myself doing the same without meaning to.

Thaddeus then glanced at his watch.

"Well, it's almost time for dinner to start, how about we all head back to the Box for some grub. I hear Jorge is making his famous beef stew!" He said to everyone, but finished the last line giving Jenna a funny yet motivating look which she giggled at while nodding her head.

I looked at Alex and gave him a questioning shrug and he just nodded.

"We've covered just about everything. We could continue anything else after dinner or tomorrow if you want." He said.

After a little thinking, I nodded yes.

 _Might as well go with the flow till I know more and Faith wakes up, plus beef stew sounds really good right now._

"Tomorrow sounds good." I said which he nodded at.

Thaddeus sat the girl on the bench and began cleaning up his things, Alex and I help out and everything was back where it needed to be after less than half-an-hour.

Once done, all four of us began the walk back.

Thaddeus and Jenna walked ahead of us with the girl on Thaddeus's hip again since he had his pack and quiver on his back.

Alex and I walked side by side. While walking back, Alex's red hawk, Aiden, flew down and landed on his shoulder.

Glancing ahead, I could see Thaddeus was in the middle of a grueling conversation with Jenna who looked like she was pouting again.

He was probably telling her how she can't go off on her own, or needs to stop climbing buildings and landing on top of people.

I smirked at their interactions with each other, they reminded me of myself and my brother Jason back before our mother separated us.

Technically, he's still my younger brother.

But now he currently looks twice as old as I do, and he never fails to point that out every time we see each other.

But I was also still curious about the girl.

She doesn't seem to share any physical resemblance to Thaddeus, but you can't always judge on observations.

They have a habit of often being wrong in my world, one second you see a chihuahua, the next you're face to face with raging monster that spits acid.

I nudged Alex next to me to get his attention.

"What is it?" He asked.

I motioned towards the pair ahead of us.

"What's their stories?" I asked, curious about my two new acquaintances but not really expecting him to give a straight answer.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, apparently needing clarification. I sighed at his answer.

"What are they, siblings or something?" I asked.

He seemed to think for a while before answering, while also mindlessly taking out yet another piece of beef jerky and feeding it to Aiden.

"As far as I know, they're not related to each other." He said simply.

I waited for more information, but he seemed to deem that little bit of info as enough to quench my curiosity.

"Well, then who's the girl? You must know a little more about her than that?" I asked him with a slight tone of impatience at the lack of facts.

Alex seemed to tense up at my question. And then I remembered Actaeon's little pep talk.

"Oh yeah I forgot. You people are like _super_ paranoid about keeping secrets." I said with my own snarky attitude.

"

I sighed at him yet again. _This guy can really sound like a broken record._

"Jeze, I was just curious." I said, my irrigation as plain as day.

Alec simply turned his attention back to Aiden on his shoulder who had begun to nip at his hair

I sighed again exhaustedly at the ground.

 _If there is one thing these guys value, it's personal privacy. But I guess it's commendable on how loyal they are to each other._ I thought.

I was okay with that; as someone who doesn't like talking about her own past, I understand the need to keep the past behind you.

The Hunt is actually pretty similar, we only say a little of what we actually know about each other to outsiders from the camps who happen to come to us with questions about how life is like for us.

Or how it was before the Hunt.

 _I guess this must be what it feels like to be the one asking instead of being the one half-answering._

We continued on towards the fort in silence, my head running through a couple different things.

Mostly how I was going to find Alice, whether or not the rest of the Hunt would find me, and when would Faith wake up.

 _I hope all of the above happen soon, I could really use a familiar face right about now._

 **NEXT –** Ch.10: One Foot, then the Other


	10. Dinner Talk

**Orphans of Legends**

 **CH-10** : Dinner Talk

 **Thaddeus POV**

Disciplining a child is tough, anyone who said otherwise had obviously never met my Jenna.

She can be the sweetest girl in the world, but that's what made it hard.

How do you discipline someone who rarely ever needs it?

Now I'm not saying she's miss perfect and proper, but she's definitely not as bad as other kids her age are.

We were walking back to the Box for some dinner and I was trying to think of an effective method of preventing my _'little trouble maker_ ' from wandering off on her own again like she did today, yesterday, two days before that, last week, and the multiple times before…

 _Okay so maybe I've been putting this discussion on hold for a while._

She started doing it around the same time she learned how to run without falling on her face.

And she's been doing it ever since.

From what my mother says, I was the same way when I was that age.

I asked her once how she handled me, but all she said was that she didn't.

 _'All it took was anything as small as a butterfly, and off you'd go in a flash!'_ she'd say.

And her best solution was simply try to point me in a good direction and hope I stayed out of trouble.

 _I guess that's all any parent can do._

She must have known what she was doing since I turned out okay… _ish_ (at least I like to think I did).

But I wasn't sure if the same technique would work on Jenna, she tends to avoid running in straight lines at all costs.

A big sneeze brought my thoughts back to now and I looked to see Jenna got a little snot dripping out of her nose.

After a quick laugh, I quickly took out a portable stack of Kleenex that I learned to keep on hand after the sniffles incident of last April.

Now _That_ was nasty.

As Jenna blew her nose, I glanced back at Alex and the Hunter Thalia.

They seemed to be talking about something between each other.

Thalia wasn't what I expected a Hunter of Artemis to be like.

Sure she was obviously skilled with a bow at a level I could only dream of getting; that fact I expected.

But what I didn't expect was for her to be so… _mellow_.

Our little _friendly_ match of archery was very exciting to say the least, and it surprised me that she seemed so into it despite her previous injuries.

After she had finished off her arrows, she looked much more relaxed than when she first introduced herself.

As if her fighting spirit had been re-energized.

Honestly, I was actually extremely nervous of meeting any of the Hunters from before.

The Artemis's Hunters have a _rough_ history with my family.

I was nervous that they'd recognize me somehow.

How? I'm not sure.

What little I do know of my family's past was told to me from my mother, and even she didn't know all the details.

 _Or so she said._

Whenever I asked Actaeon about it, he'd try to ward me away from finding out too much about it.

He said that the less I know, the better.

All I did know was that they hated my father for something he did.

Whether it was something done to them or someone else, I didn't know.

Whatever it might be, odds are they wouldn't take too kindly to me if they found out.

 _Oh great, now I'm starting to talk like Actaeon in my head_.

After Jenna had finished blowing whatever snot she had left, I took the tissue and gave her face one last wipe to which she gave a pouty face at me for.

"Now, what are you going to do when you see Riley?" I asked the toddler on my hip who just scowled at me in a way that just makes her look adorable and not at all serious.

" _Jenna_ …what are you going to say?!" I asked again with a little more authority in it.

As cute as she can be, sometimes you needed to be stern with her.

 _And there's me talking like mom, I hang around way too many people with good advice and weird accents._

After a little stare off, which I won, her eyes dropped to the ground in defeat.

"I'm sorry." She half whispered-half pouted out.

She never did like being talked sternly to, but that was the only way to get her to understand when she was wrong.

Luckily, I didn't have to use that kind of tone with her most of the time.

"Thank you, I'm sure she'll appreciate that. You know she gets really scared when you run off like this." I said to which made her dawn a look of guilt that wasn't very fitting on her normally smiling face.

As much as I would love to say it was okay and she should cheer up, I needed for my point to get across to her.

So I let the thought bounce around in her head for a while.

I've found that the _'They got scared because of you._ ' tactic works very well with her.

She never liked or meant to scare others when she runs off, she just has a very adventurous side to her.

After a minute, Jenna leaned her head on my shoulder in a tired motion and I adjusted her so that I had both hands under her and she wrapped her arms around my neck with her head in the crook on my shoulder facing out.

 _I'll cheer her up after she apologizes to Riley._

Jenna chose to stay silent for the rest of the walk back, which was okay with me.

She probably tired herself out after avoiding Riley and chasing after me all the way out here.

Contrary to what most believed here, my trouble-maker did get tired from time to time.

 _Probably should put her down for a nap after we eat too._

I slowed my pace so the others could catch up to me and so I could enter in on whatever conversation they were having.

When they did catch up, they seemed to have just finished what they were talking about. An awkward silence enveloped our little group as we walked.

Whatever they'd been talking about, it must have not ended well one way or another.

"So..." I said, attempting to start a new conversation.

"A Hunter of Artemis; what's it like traveling around with a goddess by your side and hunting down the _'big game'_?" I asked Thalia.

She shrugged. "It's exciting most of the time. We actually mostly hunt basic stuff like the standard monsters you'd find or run into; hellhounds, dracaena, a drakon every now and then. We do occasionally go out and hunt a rare monster if one's around, but that doesn't happen often these days." She replied.

 _Is that it?_ _It kinda sounded like she had rehearsed that._

"Oh really? Well that sounds… nice." I said, but Thalia picked up on my apparent skepticism.

"What?" She asked.

"Well I was just thinking that there might be more to you than just the hunting, and the camping, and the 'no boys allowed' thing?" I said.

She just gave an amused huff at me like it she was used to getting that kind of question and folded her arms.

"Those seem to be the only things anyone really notices about us; just a bunch of little girls who hate boys and spend too much time lost the woods." She said.

I couldn't help but note the sound of resentment in her voice.

She must be used to people making those kinds of assumptions about her and her friends.

"Really?" I said, not knowing how to respond to that except for…

"Well then tell me."

She gave me a 'What did he say' look.

"Tell you what?" She asked.

"Tell me what the Hunters of Artemis are really all about." I said giving her a curious look.

She just stared at me for a little while before she laughed lightly.

"Why, you looking to write a book?" She asked jokingly.

"No, but I figured you might be tired of people not understanding." I said.

Thalia just jeered at me while shaking her head.

"Sorry to disappoint, but if you think I would just go on and tell you everything like you and I are old chums, it's not gonna happen. That's something called _confidential info_." She said in a guarded tone while also glaring back at Alex, like she meant the words to be for him and not me.

I glanced back at Alex to see his reaction was to simply turn his head away, pretending like he hadn't heard her.

"But don't get me wrong, you guys are really nice and did a lot for Faith and I, but I can't talk about stuff like that without getting in _huge_ trouble with my boss." She added.

 _So the girls name is Faith. That seems like a fitting name for her._ I thought randomly, remembering how she looked as she slept.

"Lady Artemis?" Alex asked, bringing me back from my thoughts.

Thalia nodded to answer him.

Made sense, the last thing anyone wants to do is aggravate a divine power, especially one who favors turning one into an animal and then hunting them down for sport.

"Well say no more than, I am well versed in the fact that in our kind of life, whatever you do; try your best not to offend any all-powerful deities." I said in an optimistic tone.

"…For the most part at least." I added.

Thalia looked at me for a second, then smiled thankfully at me.

"I appreciate that. But mind if I ask some questions though?" She asked and I shook my head.

"Fire away." I said.

"How long were you in the Legion?" She asked, which made Alex tense up. But I just gave a light laugh at her and her observant eyes.

"Ooooh, I don't know, that's kinda thing is called _confidential info_." I said in a dramatic tone that made it obvious that I was joking.

Although Alex seemed to be looking at me in a way that suggested that he thought I was serious.

 _That dude really needs to learn how to read a room._

Thalia, on the other hand, gave a laugh at my joke which I could tell had taken care of some of the tension from earlier.

I joined in the laugh while Alex just stayed looking confused. After a while of that, I finally answered her.

"Well, let's see…" I started but got interrupted by Alex.

"Um Thaddeus, are you sure you should be…" he began.

"Relax Alex, it's not like the whole world is gonna end if I tell a little bit about myself." I said trying to appease my friends over cautious nature.

 _He's been hanging around Scamander too much._

"Now, where was I? Oh yeah! The Legion. Well, From my mark you obviously saw, I was an official member of the Twelfth Legion for two years, before that I spent another two years as a _Probatio_." I answered humbly.

"Why'd you leave?" She asked.

I noticed Alex moved a little closer, obviously also curious about my back story.

"Well… that's kind of a long and complicated story?" I said to which she gave me an inquisitive look.

"But really I just came here for the weather." I concluded, using a joke to say that the topic was off limits.

She gave me ' _seriously'_ look, but didn't press any more from me about it.

"Can I see your mark?" She asked, nodding to my arm.

I nodded and adjusted Jenna so I could hold her with one arm, and stretched my right arm out for her to see.

It wasn't anything special. It just had the regular SPQR and service stripes on it.

The familia mark was a little bit different then most.

It had an angled bow notched with an arrow, but there was another part that shadily resembled a spear or javelin; it was hard to tell because it looked like someone had tried to erase it, but couldn't (At least not all of it).

Thalia took her time observing it and truthfully I was starting to get a little embarrassed.

It was hard enough when I was in the legion, the Praetors themselves took an interest in it.

"Are you a legacy?" Thalia asked, still looking my mark over.

"Uh, yeah. How could you tell?" I asked back giving her an inquisitive look.

"There are a couple of Hunters who used to be in the Legion. And my brother was in the Legion too, even made Praetor awhile back." That earned a pair of raised eyebrows on my face.

"Impressive." I said.

"Yeah, he taught me a lot about the Roman side of the gods. But that was a long time ago." She said, releasing my arm and turning her head to stare out as if she was remembering the whole conversation with her brother on the day it happened.

But she talks as if she didn't know about the Gods of Rome till she was told; by the sounds of it, she might not be...

"Your Greek, aren't you?" I asked which earned me an impressed smirk from Thalia.

"Yeah, guess your pretty perceptive too huh? My dad was in his Greek persona when he and my mom… you know." She said pumping her eyebrows to iterate the her meaning.

"I see…" I said.

Hard to tell which God she belongs to, maybe her dad is a minor god or something.

"Well then, anything else you wanted to ask me?" I asked.

"Is it okay if I ask for your heritage?" she asked.

Red flag!

"Um…well. Sure, I guess it's okay." I said nervously, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Well I don't recognize your mark but I'd have to say your probably related to Apollo, but isn't his mark usually that harp thing?" She asked.

"It's called a Lyre actually… and you'd be right. My mother is a daughter of Apollo." I said.

"Oh… well that's nice." She said while glancing to the side with an annoyed expression.

"Something wrong with that?" I asked with a little defense in my tone.

I may not know much about the Sun God, but he was my mother's dad, and she's awesome!

"It's nothing, it's just that I've had one too many crazy meetings with that hot headed god. But it does explain your archery skills." She said.

 _I guess that's a compliment._

"But what about the rest? The part that's faded out?" She asked.

"I'm… not too sure, that's just how it turned out. The Augur took hours of my time trying to find out why, but he found nothing." I explained, it wasn't the full truth of course.

I already suspected who my other lineage lead to, but had no proof or real reason to find out other than curiosity.

"Anything else?" I asked.

At this point we'd entered the clearing by the lake with all the sports fields.

"Actually there was one more thing, what about her?" She said nodding to the little one currently dozing off and not paying any attention whatsoever to our conversation.

Now that was secret I have to tread lightly around.

"This one here I'm pretty sure is a first generation demigod, whose I couldn't say. She's never been claimed, but as far as I am concerned, all I see is just a little girl who enjoys bringing a little bit of happiness into the world wherever she goes." I say while looking at the back of my trouble makers head as she was nodding off to sleep.

Thalia also nodded with a warm smile.

"How old is she?" she asked.

"Five, she finally started talking properly last year; well… as proper as a toddler can." I laughed lightly at my own joke, while Thalia simply smiled and shook her head.

Probably thinking in her head: ' _Dad jokes.'_

Before I had noticed, we had arrived back at the Box's gates.

I glanced at Jenna only to see she had already fallen asleep in my arms, her arms had gone slack and her legs dangled lifelessly at my sides.

I smiled and gave her a kiss on the head and turned back to the two beside me.

"I'll meet you guys at the Hall, I've got someone here who needs a little nap." I said gesturing towards Jenna.

Both of them gave me looks that practically screamed "adorable".

I sighed annoyingly at their antics, even though I was used to those kind of looks.

I headed towards my room in what was often called: The Lodge.

Most of us who lived in the Box had a decent size of a room that had the essentials. Bathroom, closets, and a bed area.

Aside from the bathroom, the whole thing was one big room like in a hotel.

It had two stories with a stairway on both ends and one in the middle, the second floor had a balcony all along the length of the building.

Each room held two people respectively, although there were a few that were lucky enough to get one room to themselves.

Because I acted as her guardian, Jenna and I shared a room for now.

She'd no doubt was going to ask for a more private accommodation once puberty set in ( _May the Gods have mercy on me when that time rolls around!_ ).

Thankfully, she is pretty easy to live with most of the time.

As I walked up the outside wooden steps, Jenna's hair began to fly into my face from the little breeze there was, I tried to blow it away with no luck.

 _One of these days I need to ask Jane or someone how to braid hair, the best I can manage is pony tails._

I finally made it to my room and began fishing out my keys in my pocket without waking Jenna.

Which is a lot harder than you'd think.

After maybe five minutes of trying, I finally got the dang things out and unlock the door into my room.

There wasn't much to my it. My mom was a stinker for organizing so I had a habit of keeping my place.

But my efforts were always thwarted by my little trouble maker who couldn't pronounce _'organization'_ even if she tried.

The walls were shaped in the logs that made up the building which gave an old style log cabin look.

I had a few pictures up here and there of my friends and family (Ranchers and mother of course).

I was able to bring in a little fridge and microwave back when Jenna was younger and it made it easier back then.

Most rooms didn't have such commodities; they didn't even have air conditioners.

Further towards the back were the beds. I had a twin size while Jenna currently had a kids size.

The room was small, yet homey. But it wasn't exactly something you'd like to live in for the rest of your life.

Eventually Ranchers were allowed to live in town once you reach the age of twenty-one, which I was.

But I found that living in the Box has its fair share of advantages.

Plus, Jenna loves it here, so here we stay.

I walked over to her bed and laid her down gently to avoid waking her; thankfully she's a heavy sleeper.

I slipped her shoes off and tucked her into her little bed opposite of my own with a comfy quilt my mother made for me a long time ago.

(Yes, my mother is a quilter and enjoys making quilt blankets for everyone. She's a more traditional mother that way, but she sure knows how to make a comfy blanket).

Jenna will probably sleep for a few hours then wake up for some dinner, I'll have to remember to save her some stew, she'd never forgive me if I let her miss out on Jorge's cooking.

Then I did something that almost every parent does their children.

I took a minute and watched Jenna as she slept peacefully, noticing almost everything about her.

Her auburn hair that seemed to never stay straight and always took the form of princess curls. Her face that still held a look of baby cuteness in it. And the various smudges of dirt and grime that she seems to accumulate every single day from her adventures.

I took a moment to think what my life would've been like these last four years had she not been there; the thought seemed ludicrous to me.

I wasn't what you'd called bundle of joy back then; so much pain, stress, and guilt seemed to rule over me like I was dragging a chained wrecking ball everywhere I went.

I sighed while fixing some hair on Jenna's sleeping face and laughed lightly as she snored a little bit.

After a minute or so more of this, I finally turned and quietly left the room.

It was a bit of a challenge to not trip over the various toys that littered the floor, it's a miracle I made it to the bed carrying her without crashing!

 _Was I like this with my toys?_

Taking one last glance behind me, I closed the door, and made my way around and down to the Dining Hall.

On my way there, I thought back to the day I found Jenna, or more accurately; how she found me.

But more than that, I remembered the one who entrusted me with her safety, and her knowledge of the amazing potential Jenna he had.

…and how it was up to me to protect her.

" _Her life was never meant to be, yet she is here now, and so here she will stay."_

" _Do not be discouraged by the coming dangers that she may face. Guide her, care for her, be the spark that will enlight her soul and the vast possibilities she will unlock."_

" _In doing so, you just may find yourself on a new path of your own, one that will lead you to the best of what you could be."_

The words of the woman's calm and caring voice still echoed in my head, it scared me every time I thought of them.

Not for the pressure that it came with, but for the _dangers_ the woman had spoken of.

Jenna was nearly a year old then and didn't deserve to have so much weight put on her before she could even understand any of it.

 _She deserves a normal life._ I thought to myself for the thousandth time but then laughed at my own ignorance.

 _Normal_ , by most standards, was one thing nobody here was, is, and ever will be.

Atalanta once phrased it that there was no such thing as perfect.

What she meant by that; I really didn't know.

I guess she was just trying to say that all you can do is try your hardest and whatever happens after is whatever you make of it.

But really, most of us just wanted to be normal, like actually normal.

To have normal parents who love you, grow up worrying about the little things like homework, dates, or the score of the game in the fourth quarter.

To go out into the world and live it without having to constantly looking behind our backs for something or other trying to kill, maim, and/or control us.

To not have the fate of all of western civilization put on your shoulders like the very weight of the sky.

I laughed once again at myself as I walked into the dining hall, thinking one last thing:

 _But that would be asking too much, now wouldn't it Fates?_

 **LINEBREAK – 1**

 **Thaddeus POV**

I walked through the Halls doors into its massive room that could hold up to two hundred people.

To the left was the kitchen window were the cooks (or anyone unlucky enough to get assigned to KP duty) would serve the food.

To the right was a bar; now don't get the wrong idea! We don't serve underage, it's just that the Hall was built during a time consistent with what people would call the 'wild west'.

They didn't exactly have enforced age restriction back them.

The space in between was taken up with several rows of long cafeteria tables as well as a few individual round tables here and there.

Opposite of the entrance was a stage that we used to hold various concerts, movies, and important classes.

The Hall was decorated like what you'd expect a two century old summer camp dining hall to look like.

There were a few animal pelts up from hunts way back when my great, great, grandfather was in diapers.

The ceiling leaned up with the roof and was divided by wood beams, between each beam was a painting that depicted the founding and construction of the Ranch.

But my personal favorite was the wall that was covered in photos of former Ranchers who'd somehow made a name for themselves.

The only one that really stood out was Theodore Roosevelt.

He was the one responsible for keeping our valley secret from the US government ( _cough-Olympus-cough_ ).

Somehow, don't ask how, he managed to literally buy this whole area as private property; being the twenty second President of the United States had its advantages (back then at least).

Since then, no Rancher has reached that level of fame.

The rest of the pictures where of Ranchers who were involved in the background of major events or whose stories never really got the limelight.

There was Rene Gagnon, a Marine who was one of the iconic six who raised the flag on Iwo Jima.

Fred Noonan, who was the navigator for Amelia Earhart (not his fault, by the way).

Helen Keller, an activist for the blind and deaf (she happened to be both).

And Frank Hopkins (my personal favorite), he was an activist for the wild horses of the midwest and was a legend as a long distance cross country horse racer.

There were many others, and they all never got much of the spot light treatment, but they all helped in the making of bigger achievements.

Trying to make this world just a little bit better in their own ways.

But you know… sometimes, I think that these people were just as important, if not more, than the ones who got the fame or glory.

They where the little guys (and gals) that were just one brick that made up the whole building.

 _Maybe one day, I'll be on this wall_.

People would probably just look up and see just another face of someone who helped to make something big happen.

Oh and I almost forgot the fireplace.

In the center of the whole room was a fire pit that was about five feet wide evenly with cemented stone in a square shape.

Above it was a smaller square shaped hollow stone pillar that served as the chimney funnel.

Both the pit and funnel were covered in rocks and stone that were all cemented into place.

The funnel had four corner pillars that aligned with the corners of the bottom square hearth and connected with them like naked tree roots connecting to the ground.

We used the fire pit same as the camps do; as a way to sacrifice to the gods, or at least the ones we wanted to.

Like our parents, if you knew who they were, or someone we liked.

Most of the time it was to Atalanta, Lignum, Scamander, or Athos, the four patron gods of Ranch.

I occasionally slipped in a little for my dad too, even if I didn't know exactly who he was.

He may never show himself, but I'd like to think of it as my way of saying that I'm still here.

I noticed Thalia and Alex had found a seat and where already eating away, although Alex seemed to have been frozen in mid bite, while looking at Thalia who was engrossed in her meal.

I laughed at Alex's expression seeing Thalia attack her soup like she hadn't eaten in a week (which was probably true).

I went up to the window counter where the twins Katrina and Kayleigh were dressed in aprons.

Kat's saying 'Kiss the Cook' and Kay's having two spatulas crossing each other.

They both wore hair nets to cover their matching black hair, and neither looked happy to be there.

 _Oh, this is gonna be good!_

"Well hello there ladies, why the long faces? You look worse than a horse who's about to get fixed." I said with humor and laughed at myself and how their scowls intensified.

"Zip it Thaddeus or the next thing being served will be your head on a platter!" Katrina said through her teeth.

Being the understanding man I am, I gave her another laugh to show how much I sympathized with her.

"Oh really? You think you could serve Alex's bird as an appetizer along with that?" I said laughing more and causing both to uncontrollably give a little smirk at my joke.

"So… what did you do this time?" I asked in a casual manner that showed I already knew that they were being punished.

Kayleigh gave me an annoyed look.

"Why do you think we did anything wrong, just because we're on KP doesn't mean we deserve this punishment or that this is even a punishment at all; for all you know, we volunteered to do this because we had nothing else to do! Or because people who were supposed to be on KP asked us to fill in because they had some important business to do! Did you ever think of that?! Well! Huh? Did you!?" She finished her rant huffing and sweating on her forehead and her scoop spoon pointed right at me.

"Rrrrrright…" I said raising an eyebrow but kept my eyes in their lazy position, "…so _what_ did you two do this time?" I repeated myself, not at all fooled by Kayleigh's word play.

"Blew up a bathroom in the library." Katrina said with in lame tone while her sister gave her an annoyed look but quickly returned to stirring up the stew with slightly more force than was needed.

I stared at them for a few seconds then gave some combination of a laugh and huff.

"Why, on earth, would you blow up a bathroom; in the library of all places." I asked while they filled a bowl and put it in a line of them for people to pick up.

Both of them were blushing a little in embarrassment.

"It's not like we wanted to blow the sink up, we were practicing a new potion we had invented when we added the wrong mixer in and it… well…it would have worked if _somebody_ had been paying attention and not been playing with her toy while working with explosive materials!" Kat spouted accusingly at Kay.

"Hey! It's not a toy, it's a complex puzzle that's proven to help strengthen brain activity and concentration!" Kayleigh retorted, but Katrina just glared at her sibling and wasn't having any of it.

"It was a freaking Rubix Cube!" She shouted.

Before either of the twins could get any further in their argument, Jorge stepped behind both of them and bonked both on their heads with his fists.

"Ow!" they said in unison.

Jorge looked really annoyed at the pair in front of him.

"KP is not for arguing, it's for the two of you to reflect on how you both are responsible and how neither of you two will do it again!" He said sternly.

The twins both looked down shamefully while messaging their heads.

"Or, at the very least; if you are going to do it again, don't do it in such an easy place to get caught! I mean seriously, a bathroom in the library of all places. There's a whole valley our there with plenty of open fields that no one goes to. Think smarter, not harder girls." Jorge said with a hint of sarcasm in his words.

The twins smirked then nodded and got back to work, seeming to get the meaning of Jorge's lecture.

 _Is it just me, or does Kayleigh have a slight blush to her cheeks?_

Smirking to myself, I nodded hello to Jorge and grabbed a bowl of delicious smelling beef stew with some side snacks.

Heading to the drink dispenser, I was swiftly intercepted by none other than Riley who leaned forward on her legs and began breathing heavily in and out as if she just ran a marathon.

 _Three guesses what this is about_. I thought sarcastically.

"Thaddeus," _huff, huff_ , "please don't be angry with me, I" _huff_ "lost Jenna again. I'm really sorry, we were in" _huff_ " the library. I tried looking for her but then there was an explosion and I started panicking, and I've been running all over the place looking, and I still can't find her!" Riley spouted out in a panicked voice that turned into a whimper by the end.

At least she's dedicated… I think.

I sighed at her over dedication towards taking care of my trouble maker.

"It's okay Riley, Jenna's fine. She followed me to the ranges and I brought her back with me. She's taking a nap in my room right now so just calm down." I said while filling a glass full of water and giving it to her, she gladly took it and began gulping down.

As she continued to drink her water, I grabbed another glass cup and filled mine up with some Coke.

She finally finished her water with a dramatic _'Ah'_.

"That's a relief. I really think you need to start going a little tougher on her whenever she does stuff like that." She suggested.

I rolled my eyes at her, having been told this numerous times before and not just from her.

"I know, I know. But you need to remember that she doesn't mean any harm by it." I said.

"Yeah, well regardless, she needs to learn some discipline." She retorted.

Sometimes I feel Riley should have been in the Legion rather than here.

She certainly has the spirit and energy a legionnaire would.

I simply sighed again and nodded, knowing that her suggestion was valid.

"I'm about to go eat with Alex and one of those Hunters from the forest. Want to join?" I asked, nodding towards the two.

Her face changed from her usual calmness to nervousness as she glanced at the table.

"Um, I don't think so, I ah… I should go." Was all she said and then turned to head for the door.

I guess she's still a little self-conscious around new people, either that or she just didn't want to meet Thalia.

 _Probably both_.

"Hey wait!" I called out, making her stop before she got to the doors.

"When you get a chance, could you at least go check on Jenna in my room later?" I asked, thinking that my discussions with Thalia might take some time.

"Yeah, sure." She said quickly before making her way out of the Hall at a rather brisk pace.

 _Poor girl, she never did like meeting new people._ I thought as I picked up my bowl.

I walked over to the table where Alex was on one side and Thalia on the opposite.

She was working on her third bowl while Alex seemed to have only made it through about half of his first and looked like he had lost his appetite.

"I see you approve of our cooking at least." I said to Thalia as I sat next to Alex.

"Word of warning, don't be surprised if you feel a big need to use the bathroom later tonight. Jorge's cooking usually has an after effect that makes it travel through the stomach pretty fast." I said but she didn't seem to pay my warning any mind.

Alex, however, gave his soup a funny look and scooted it away slowly.

After another minute, Thalia finally stopped gorging herself and took a breathing break.

She then glanced at me as if she just now realized I was here. She gulped down what was left in her mouth before talking.

"Hey, how's the little girl?" She asked while wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Counting Z's, odds are she'll wake up in an hour or so and come out to look for me." I said then took a bite of one of my rolls that I'd picked up.

Thalia nodded slowly and her eyes began to wander about the room.

"So… you mind if I ask about the attack?" She asked.

I glanced at Alex while chewing only to see him giving me a questioning look at the same time.

I shrugged, then swallowed my food before responding. "Sure."

"Okay… soooo how did you guys know that we were in trouble, and how did you find us?" She asked.

Since I still wanted to eat a warm meal, I gave Alex a look telling him to answer for us.

"Well, we didn't really know what was going on at first. Atalanta had just come running in and started getting all of us together saying that she needed us for a mission and that she'd explain on the way." He said.

"And you guys just got up and left, no questions asked?" Thalia asked not apparently believing that we would react so quickly with no information.

"It's not unusual for Atalanta or Actaeon to send us out like that, only we don't usually have a rescue so close to the gate." Alex continued.

"Okay, then how did _Atalanta_ know where we were and that we needed help?" Thalia asked; Alex hesitated on answering, not that he didn't know why but probably at realizing Thalia didn't know.

"She knew because she's supposed to know. Isn't she?" Alex said directing the question toward me.

I nodded, then placed my hand on his shoulder as a sign for me to have a turn talking, I had to swallow my food first though.

"Yeah, that's right." I said. I looked confusingly at Thalia, but she just did the same to me.

"Atalanta is a Goddess, so it's normal for her to…" I said, dragging it out to see if she would fill in the gaps on her own.

"To WHAT!" she shouted a little too loudly which caused most of the people in the Hall to look at her oddly, she didn't really give them much thought since she continued.

"Just tell me already!" She demanded.

"She knew because it's her duty as a Goddess to know… But I take it you didn't know that part?" I asked.

"No! All I ever heard was that she was the most famous of all the Hunters of Artemis. The last anyone had heard of her was that she'd been turned into a lion by my dad after…" She stopped mid-sentence.

Suddenly looking like a little kid who accidentally admitted doing something they shouldn't have to their parents (I've seen it a few times on Jenna).

Alex and I looked at her in confusion as to why she stopped when the hidden truth hit me like a Mac truck.

If I recalled her legend right, the God that was responsible Atalanta's transformation was… _Oh boy_.

Knowing everyone else might over react, I leaned in to confirm my suspicion.

"You're a daughter of Zeus?" I asked. She looked blankly at her empty bowl for a second, then slowly nodded.

I slumped back into my seat, mouth agape in amazement.

"I thought your name was familiar. You're Thalia Grace; _the_ Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus who became the Lieutenant of Artemis, who almost became the child of that great prophecy of the Titans rising. You fought with Percy Jackson and the other Heroes of Olympus in both the Titan and Giant wars?" I spoke out in awe.

She just kept glancing around, probably making sure no one was licensing in on us.

Alex seemed to be awestruck at the legend that was currently sitting at our table with three empty bowls of Jorge's beef soup in front of her.

 _I wonder if Actaeon knew about-_

She suddenly leaned in and grabbed my collar to pull my head to hers, her forehead was above mine and only a hair away, she was giving me a look that I could only compare to a bird of prey casting fear into its new mouse meal.

"Outside. _Now_." She said in a hushed voice, yet the tone was 1000% hostile.

 _Guess my meal is ending early_.

The next thing I know, she's dragged me and Alex, who was still too stunned at the realization to form a word, out of the Hall and into a small ally between it and the next building over.

Once we were deep enough where we wouldn't be easily heard, she grabbed both of us by the collar and pushed us against the wall.

 _Wow, she's got quite a grip for a young teenager._ I thought both randomly and stupidly.

"Let's get some things straight here boys. One: Don't ever use my full name again!" She said pushing slightly harder on our necks which encouraged us both to nod our heads.

"Two: Keep the _'daughter of Zeus_ ' thing to yourselves, I get enough _'oohh's_ and _aahh's_ from both Camps as it is, got it!" We nodded again.

I took this chance to interject and try to calm her down.

"Y-Your right, t-that's kind of a noticeable title. Sorry. I didn't mean for anyone else to hear." I said, although my voice came out a bit horse due to the pressure on my throat.

Guess I was a little quick to call her _'mellow'_ when I did.

Thalia gave the two of us one more glare, then released our collars.

I took a few well needed deep breaths before continuing our friendly conversation.

"Look, I know how hard it can be for people with… overly famous family relations, but I promise that neither of us will spill the beans on you, okay?" I said.

"Just forget about it." she said swiftly as she began walking back out of the ally and headed back to the Hall, but instead of going in, she walked around a bit then sat on one of the benches near the door.

She began massaging her forehead like she was battling a headache. I'd have one too if I were her.

Seeing that she needed some time to think and process, I stood to the side of the bench and leaned back on the wall.

Alex, following my lead, stood nearby against the building wall.

After a few minutes of quiet, I noticed the sun was getting real low.

It would probably set within the next hour.

If you listened closely, you could hear a few crickets starting up in the fields.

"So she's a Goddess right?" Thalia asked, referring to Atalanta by my guess, while also glancing around the Box.

Her hands now hung in between her open legs and her elbows supported her on her thighs as she leaned forward.

In that moment, she looked exhausted, looking like she'd dealt with enough stress to last three whole lifetimes.

 _But she still looks so much like a kid still._

"Yeah, she's the Goddess of Lost Children, among other things." I said.

Thalia didn't seem too surprised by the title; if anything, she probably figured it made sense considering Atalanta was a former orphan-turned-Huntress, so her domains would be reminiscent to those of Artemis.

"So what exactly does she do here?" She asked.

"Well aside from the obvious rescuing, that's all there really is to it." I said, simplifying the role of my teacher.

I glanced down at her only to be met by a pair of light blue eyes that seem to be trying to strike me down where I stood.

 _Was it something I said?_

"Seriously? What is it with you people?" She said while waving her head over to the other direction (no doubt rolling her eyes too).

"What?" I asked, confused as to what was angering her.

"One second you guy's talk to me like we're old pals, the next you blow me off with some lame lie." She said in a tone that was slowly but surely turning aggressive.

 _A lie?_

She stood up and walked ahead a few steps, not really going anywhere.

"I now you're not happy about me not telling you about myself or the Hunters, but try and look at it through my eyes. I just woke up in a place I don't know with strangers all around me, and was just told a LOT of shit that I'm still having trouble processing!" She said, her voice rising a little.

 _Okay… I think she might have misunderstood me somewhere._

"And every time I ask you guy's to clarify something, you shoot me down!" she shouted.

By this point she was getting a little out of hand and people around us started to glance or stare at us.

 _Well this is going well_. I thought as I crossed my arms.

"We're just careful that way. If you were in our shoes, you'd be-" and that's when she blew it.

"NO! I would have been _worse_! I wouldn't have told you anything about us! You would have been tied up, gagged, and have dozens of arrows pointed at you and threatened to have your balls cut off!" She screamed, her face becoming flustered in rage and a few random lightning sparks went off on her fists.

The next few seconds were filled with an eerie silence.

The whole Box that had three dozen people milling about on whatever business now was as active as a ghost town.

All eyes were now drawn towards Thalia and I.

She was still huffing and giving me a glare that would have quelled the wildest of flames without so much as a drop of water.

I noticed the sun light had gone and dark clouds began to build up above.

If there is one thing that she's a master at (other than her skill at the bow), it's displaying her _'hulk'_ face.

Honestly, I feel like Loki coming face to face to the Hulk himself for a second round of Misfit God Whack A Mole.

But I did my very best to not let it show on my face.

I don't know how long the two of us continued our staring contest, nobody seemed eager to interrupt us.

Her face slowly morphed from one of rage to a serious scowl. While I kept my own face as blank as I could, though I couldn't help my eyes from mimicking her own.

This was now a challenge, between the two of us and no one else to see who would back down first.

And for some reason, I didn't want to lose.

But eventually I began to get the feeling that this was slowly become an awkward moment, so I decided to break first.

"So…what do you want to do Thalia?" I asked, peeking up an eyebrow.

She looked confused for a second, then began to stare down at the ground as if thinking her situation over in her head.

Soon enough, she closed her eyes and sighed to herself in defeat.

"I don't know." She moaned.

She slowly walked back to the bench and sat with the feeling of defeat pouring off of her like a sinking ship with no hope of saving.

I noticed that the crowd around the Fort were still lingering.

"Shows over! Move already!" I shouted out and immediately, everyone began walking in some direction or other continuing whatever they were doing before.

I could still tell most kept glancing at Thalia and they would all be gossiping about this little incident for a while.

 _Well that's not going to help this Hunters problems._

I looked down at the Hunter who looked to barely be sixteen years old and yet also just happened to be one of the greatest heroines of our time.

She'd been through three times the amount of trouble, pain, and challenges I have.

But at this moment, all I could do was pity her.

"You asked me why we are being nice and secretive at the same time." I said, it wasn't so much a question, more like a statement.

She nodded, but didn't appear at all interested in what I was saying.

"It's because this is all we have." I said.

"The other camps have it different, they can rely on each other, and they both have the protection of the Olympians. But here… here all we have is each other." I finished.

She didn't respond at first, I could only guess she was trying to understand what I'd told her.

"Your wrong." Was all she said in return.

Eventually she finally lifted her head up and looked me in the eye.

Hers seemed to have a wisdom to them that no sixteen year old would (and probably should) have.

"We've lost people, a lot of my friends and Hunters gave their lives, trying to make things better for their future. If it weren't for them… we wouldn't have any future at all… none of us."

She got up and stood in front of me with renewed defiance in her stance, her arms folded and her head held high looking up at me.

We stood only a few feet away, our difference in sizes not affecting either her or me.

I knew she was not someone to take lightly, she'd earned her pride hard and fiercely.

"I don't know you, or what you've been through, or what you've seen. But don't talk about things you can't possibly understand." She said.

This was no little threat or warning; she was staring straight at me with eyes that told me all that she said she believed to be true.

I lifted my head slightly regarding her.

Now I may be over confident at times, but I got the feeling that I may have been too hasty to voice my opinion of how the world works.

I gazed up at the dark clouds above that seemed to be amplifying the depth of Thalia's point.

Am I wrong? No. Well, not entirely at least…

"Your right on at least two points huntress." I said before turning my eyes back down at her.

"I _am_ wrong." She raised her eyebrows, apparently not fully expecting me to back down.

The sky then began to clear, slowly letting in the light of the forming sunset. "And the second?" she asked.

I smirked. "You don't know me." I said flatly.

Her brow crouched and her eyes became inquisitive of my face for a moment, studying it as if she was searching for something, then she looked down and nodded her head; satisfied with my compromise.

She then backed away slightly and we both stood awkwardly.

Myself not knowing what to do next, and I'm betting she didn't know either.

 _I don't envy her situation either_. I thought.

 _Waking up in a strange place, surviving a cat and mouse chase were she was the mouse. And knowing that her friend is still out there and having no way of finding… Wait a sec?_

An idea began to form in my head, a long shot, but one that might be worth it.

"Would you excuse me for a sec?" I asked her but didn't bother waiting for a reply as I made my way over to Alex and leaned in close so Thalia would catch our discussion.

"Has Actaeon gotten anything out of that girl yet?" I asked in a whisper, but he just looked at me questioningly.

"What girl?" he asked which I mentally face palmed myself.

"The one we captured from that night, the one who was working for those monsters! Has he gotten anything info from her yet?" I half whispered, half shouted in frustration of Alex short mindedness.

"Oh, no. I don't think so, why?" he responded but I didn't give his question a thought and continued with my own.

"Is she still in the office cells?" he nodded.

"And is Actaeon still off teaching that class?" He narrowed his eyes at me inquisitively before nodding again.

"What are you getting at?" he asked, but I was still thinking through my formulating plan.

"Whose turn is it to deliver her food tonight?" I asked.

"Me." He answered and I nodded with satisfaction.

Had it been anyone else, I might not have had the time to track them down.

"Alright, how about _I_ take her food to her tonight?" I asked him in a manner that made it clear I wasn't asking. His inquisitive gaze only intensified.

"What exactly are you planning?" he asked.

I glanced back towards Thalia who was now sitting back down on the bench and looked like she was carrying all the world on her back and was exhausted.

"A peace offering."

 **Next –** Ch.11: Agendas and Nightmares.


	11. Agendas and Nightmares

**Orphans of Legends**

 **Ch.11:** Agendas and Nightmares

 **Lyra POV**

 _Well, this is a real fine mess you've gotten yourself into Lyra._ I thought to myself as I sat at the head of my cot with my back to the wall and my arms wrapped around my folded legs.

My chin rested on my knees as I continued degrading myself.

It's been a few days since I was first brought into this cell, and I'd only talked to that Marshal guy as he interrogated me.

He was a very inquisitive person when it came to asking about myself and stuff.

I'd so far managed to dodge any questions that would compromise my pack, but only just barely.

And now I'm just really tired, being held up in such a limited space is driving me crazy.

There was only enough room in here for just the bed and a few feet of the floor.

There were no toilets or sinks in my cell, so I had to ask that tree nymph that sits on the desk for permission to use the bathroom that's just down the hall of these cells.

Her and some guard that was posted outside the hallway would walk me there and back.

At least they didn't see it necessary to watch me while I was in their.

What was most frustrating was my own unwillingness to attempt an escape.

The idea had crossed my mind a lot, but there was always something that seemed to stop me.

This cell offers only one barred window that shows me only what looks like a wooden log wall that I could only barely see the top of.

I occasionally caught the sound of people talking nearby, but I still can't tell where I was or how many defenders they have here.

 _So frustrating!_

I could attempt a break out, though it would most likely end in failure.

But it could offer me a chance to see more of where I am and possibly even present me an opportunity to call for help?

But it would also destroy the option of making these people trust me, as ludicrous as that sounds.

It isn't my main goal but I have to at least consider it.

 _Ugh! So many choices, yet to few positive results._

Despite all the possible chances I have or had, one way or another, I chose to remain silent and content with myself in this cell.

My failings as both a warrior and a healer drove an iron spike down through my core and I had neither the courage nor the will to do much of anything other than observe and sulk with myself.

Father would've been very disappointed if he saw me now.

A pathetic waste of a person, too focused on self-pity rather than self-preservation.

These thoughts continued to play throughout my head in a manner that I'm certain will drive me crazy eventually.

But I didn't seem to mind the chaotic ensemble.

Sighing at my self reflection, I uncurled myself and leaned back against the wall. Glancing up at the small window and watching the sky through the small view point.

I thought of home, and how right about now Great Aunt Myra would be teaching her weaving skills to the younger kids.

How Athrun would be racing his friends home, trying to beat the dinner bell, and how Father and Mother would be scolding the younglings for being too rowdy or not showing the proper respect to them and our ancestors.

 _Oh my ancestors, how I wish for guidance in this, my most dyer time of-_

My moment of peace and meditation was interrupted when I heard the little bell that signaled the front door opening.

 _Ugh, must be dinner time._

"Hey there Ruby, I've got her meal." A guy's voice said that sounded slightly familiar.

"Go ahead and leave it here dear." Said the craggy yet sweet voice of the curly red headed tree nymph.

 _I wonder what's for dinner?_

 _One thing these people are good at, it's at least knowing how to cook a good meal._ I thought as I gave a sniff of the air.

It was faint, but I caught a whiff of a delicious sent that I could only guess to be well cooked beef stew that had the wonderful aroma of various spices and a herb or two.

"Well if it's alright, could I give it to her myself?" Asked the familiar voice.

 _Oh great, another one with questions_. I thought as I rolled my eyes.

"That's against Actaeon's orders Thaddeus, he wants as few people as possible getting near her or talking with her." Ruby replied somewhat smugly.

"Oh, why? She a carrier of some disease or something?" asked Thaddeus in a sarcastic tone.

I heard Ruby scoff annoyingly at his persistence, which I found slightly humorous.

" _No_ , she isn't, and why do you think Marshal does anything? He's just looking out for you kids like he always has." She answered, but added, "Though I have no idea why he puts up with all of you at all."

I could just picture Great Aunt Myra giving an answer like that.

"Well either way, I'd still like to have a go at her. As far as I know, he hasn't gotten anything from her yet after what? Two days of trying?" He asked which was answered by a silence that all but told him he was right.

 _Clever one, but does he have to make it sound like it's his turn at riding a mechanical bull?_ I thought frustratingly.

"It doesn't matter whether he's learned anything or not, his orders are _final_! Now move along already before Actaeon comes back and catches you nosing around." Ruby retorted.

"Aw come on! Please Ruby? All I'm asking for is just five minutes? Five minutes and I'm gone. I'll have my mother send you the latest romance novels?" Thaddeus offered.

 _Romance novels?_

There was a pause before Ruby answered. "Well… alright. But if anyone asks, you snuck by me; you hear?"

He must have given a nod because he didn't speak back.

I heard his footsteps as he neared the hallway entrance. They stopped just before entering.

"And here's your meal Kenny, complements of Jorge. I convinced him to add some extra for you." Thaddeus said to the guard who was on post.

"Aw thanks! You didn't have to do that." Kenny replied in a giddy voice.

"Consider it my time card; five minutes, no less." Thaddeus replied back. He must've really wanted to talk.

Then the door opened and he came in, allowing me to finally realized who the familiar voice belonged to.

It was one of the boys from before who had attacked my party and rescued the Hunters, the one with the blueish horse.

He seemed to have possessed some hidden authority within the group back then, and from the conversation I had just heard, he must be a person of high standing here.

He currently whore a get up that reminded me of what young people who worked at a summer camp would wear. His hair was still cut short on the sides and well-trimmed on the top.

 _Not really the look of a torture expert so that's good._ I thought, but I kept my hopes low since appearances are often misleading.

What really struck me were his eyes. A pair of vibrant blue that seemed to see right through my defenses and into my souls weakest points.

Strangely enough, they reminded me of my fathers own gaze as he would look upon me as I studied or practiced a skill, always seeming to be looking for something inside me.

Familiarity aside, I knew immediately that this was no one to take lightly or openly trust.

"Hello there, you look like you're doing well." He said with his eyes softening and using a friendly tone.

"I've got a nice meal today, it's-"

"Beef Stew with herbal spices and some bread rolls." I interjected.

One of the few pleasures I have as a pack member is my strong sense of smell which happens to be one of the best in the pack.

This caused the boy to just look at me, mouth agape, as if I hit pause on him.

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay… color me impressed." He said as he placed the tray in a little horizontal slot of the cell door for food.

"I also got you some choices of drinks, or could you tell that too?" He asked jokingly, I simply shook my head in response.

"Okay then, there's grape juice, lemonade, or milk." He said digging out each bottled drink and placing them next to the tray of food.

I gave an impassive look for a moment before responding.

"Grape." I said as I looked over my meal from my position on the bed.

After he nodded, he placed the grape juice in an open slot on the tray and pocketed the other two drinks in his cargo pockets.

He seemed to just stand there afterwards as if he was waiting for me to tell him how the food tasted.

We stayed that way awkwardly for another minute.

"So…" Thaddeus said, trying to break the thick wall of ice I would have preferred to keep solid.

"Those two hunters from the forest are doing a lot better. One is already up and walking, the other is still unconscious, but she's expected to wake up soon so-"

"Whatever it is you want to ask or do to me, just get it over with." I interrupted him while turning my head back to look at the wall.

In truth, I had been expecting this for some time, one of them was bound to sneak in here to ask their own questions about me; or worse yet, they might begin using a more extreme method of extracting information from me.

Thaddeus paused for a moment, seeming not have been expecting my bluntness, guess he was expecting me to be all nervous and heartbroken over my involvement in the attack on the Hunters.

Sure, I felt guilty, but I was just following my Alpha's orders, just as any subordinate should.

Sighing, Thaddeus grabbed a nearby chair and placed it in front of my cell, sitting on it backwards similar to how cops acted in an interrogation room and played the 'good cop/bad cop' routine on TV. (Yes, even I have seen them. Athrun favors them the most out of all the other options for him on Netflix).

"Well… I didn't come here to ask questions like where you're from or why your people attacked those hunters." Thaddeus said as he sat down.

"Or to torture you…" He added.

"I was just wondering about a few things." He finished while leaning forward on the chairs back.

I stared at his face, looking for any hints of decent or foolery, but all I saw was a stoic face that gave nothing away.

He at least knows how to keep his guard up.

"Go ahead then." I said. "But you only have three minutes and forty seconds left, just so you know." I added.

He crouched his eyebrows while glancing around, probably wondering how I'd heard that from here.

"Alright, question one: how do you do that?"

"Do what?" I said with an innocent look, I knew what he was asking but I couldn't help but have a little fun with him.

"How did you just…you know what, never mind. What I wanted to ask you was something about what happened the night of the attack?" He said.

"Your Marshal has already asked me about this in depth and I promise you won't get anything more than he did." I said turning back to facing the cell wall.

"All I want to know is what happened to the Hunter." He stated.

"Which Hunter?" I asked, getting more and more annoyed by the second.

"The one your friends took." He said.

I turned and gazed lazily at him.

"I don't know what happened to her, she's probably long gone by now." I said.

"I wouldn't know where she is because they know I've been captured and they wouldn't take her anywhere I could possibly divulge. Two minutes left."

The boy didn't seem too fazed by my attempt at pressuring him with a time constraint.

"So you wouldn't possibly know where she could have been taken?" he asked.

 _What is with him and finding out about some kidnapped Hunter._

"You must have a hearing problem because that's exactly what I just said!" This one either had a very short memory or is just trying to mess with me.

He just smirked at me, obviously finding my annoyance humorous.

 _He must just be here to play around for some amusement._ I thought as I grabbed the bowl of soup and began eating.

If I'm going to have to listen to this guy make fun of me, I might as well eat before my food gets cold.

"Tell you what." he said after a few seconds of silence.

"What if I asked if you could do me a favor, and in return, I'll do one for you." He asked.

I gave him a side glance as I chewed on a piece of meat and potatoes, quirking my eyebrow to tell him I was listening.

 _'Always keep your ears open and your mind sharp.`` That's_ what father always told me.

"I can get you released." He said, which made me stop in mid-chew.

 _Released? Does he mean I can be free?_ I quickly swallowed down the meat that was not at all ready to be swallowed, then I looked at him searching for any underlyIng deception but found only the same stoic mask.

 _If he was messing with me before, can this simply be a trick to give me false confidence?_ I thought. I decided to see where this may go.

"How?" I asked.

"Simple, you take us to the missing Hunter, and we'll call it even." He stated, followed by another lengthy stretch of silence.

I rolled my eyes intently and returned to looking at my meal.

"You must really not have heard me; I don't know where she is!" I said.

"Maybe, maybe not; but you could help us find her a lot quicker than we could on our own. You know the people who took her; you know how they move and how they think. You could help us track them down. And in return, once the Hunter is safe, we'll let you go free." He said in such a mellow tone that you'd think he was planning for a trip to buy groceries.

I glared at him from the side of my eye lid.

"You actually think I'd be stupid enough to trust you at your word. And how could you trust me, an enemy, to take you where you want to go?!" I asked.

"Well you did try to save that Hunter from before, so I guess there must be some conscience in you that cares about the one that's lost." I froze at his words, my eyes were wide and my voice was caught in my throat.

Seconds past by that seemed like minutes, my mind was a loop of thoughts, coming back to the same question that I seemed unable to answer; _'Why did I help that girl?_ ' She was no one that I knew or cared for.

To me she was an enemy, someone we were tasked with hunting down, nothing more.

"Well?" my thoughts were interrupted by the boy.

He was still sitting and looking at me patiently for my answer, but I actually didn't know what to say.

If I agree, I'll probably have to help track down my own kin.

 _Would father see me as a traitor?_

But if I stay here, I may never see him, mother, or the rest of my pack ever again.

"I hate to rush you but like you said before, _our_ time is limited. I can't guarantee this offer will even be considered again, so if you have an answer, give it." He said leaning back and folding his arms.

I grimaced as I began thinking over my options faster.

"You understand that there is no guarantee that I'll be able to lead you to her?" I asked to which he simply nodded.

"And that there is a high chance that I may betray you?" he nods again.

" _And_ that the likelihood of any of you coming back is slim at best?" he nods once more.

 _Does he not have a care for his own life, or is this all just an elaborate trick to throw me off guard?_

His posture seemed relaxed but his eyes held a gaze that seemed to prevent me from looking away, making me feel like I'm looking down the barrel of a rifle.

I then saw why he showed little fear in this venture, it was all in his eyes.

He's not worried about betrayal, because he would be ready for it if it came at all.

Such a man would be dangerous to trust, but if this presents even a slim chance for me, better to take it and fail rather than sit here never succeeding.

"Alright…I'll do it." I said.

His gaze softened and I let in a breath that I seemed to have forgotten to take in.

I was like a deer in headlights! Athrun would never let me hear the end of it if he learned of this.

This was definitely not the best plan, but it may allow me my freedom sooner rather than later.

He sighed and got up to stretch, cracking his back as he did.

"Okay then, I'll get back to you with more details soon, sit tight till then." He said, then put the chair back where it had originally been and made his way to the door.

"For what it's worth," he said after stopping just before opening it.

"I think it was a pretty brave thing you did, staying behind to help her." And with that he was gone.

I knew what he was talking about, but didn't feel any thankfulness for his complement.

 _Brave…?_ I thought as I stared down at my soup, fiddling with the spoon in the noodles.

 _What a strange man._

 **Thaddeus POV**

I opened the office door and stepped out into the evening air, letting a sigh of relief out that I'd been holding.

I was both thankful and lucky that my plan seemed to be rolling with a good start.

I moved to close the door, only to freeze at the gazing pair of sharp fiery brown eyes that seemed to be waiting for me.

 _Uh oh… Guess I took longer than five minutes._

Leaning on the side of the building was none other than the Marshal himself, his arms folded, left leg bent back with the foot on the wall so that all the weight was on his right leg.

His hat hung low on his brow; he had an old fashioned pipe in his mouth that had a light column of smoke coming out and bending in the air.

"Enjoy yer little talk, Thaddeus?" Actaeon asked with that half grin of his that he shows at the weekly poker game.

 _When he knows he's won._

I simply sighed, accepting my fate, and closed the door; robing Ruby, who seemed to be trying to listen in on us, of obtaining more gossip material for the Nymph grape vine.

"I take it you heard everything?" I asked which he nodded his hat at me as an answer, and then blew a haze of smoke out.

"And so what are you going to do?" I asked.

There was an underlying question I added in there that I'm positive he picked up.

 _'Are you going to let us go, or are you going to try and stop us?'_

He held back his answer for a lengthy, and somewhat dramatic, pause until he clicked his tongue.

"Honestly, you'd managed to get further than I had with the lass. I gotta tell ya, this plan of yours be bold if noth'n else." He spoke with a casual tone that showed he wasn't too upset with me.

"Does that mean your actually all for it?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Don't be gett'n the wrong idea there bucko. I said it was _bold_ , I didn't say it was _smart_. There ain't no guarantee it would work; worst case, you'd end up caught yourself." He said to me like I was a child being told they couldn't ride the best roller-coaster because their too small.

"Wouldn't the worst case be me dead?" I asked, making him grumble a laugh.

"If I've learned one thing in my long years, it's that death isn't never the worst thing that could happen to yah." He said, and I nodded in response.

"What might be the reason behind this lill plan ah yours anyhow?" He asked after blowing out another cloud of smoke.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, then noticed Alex and Thalia still hanging around the entrance to the Hall.

Alex was trying to look inconspicuous while also glancing my way with a look of unease, no doubt thinking that I had gotten the both of us onto KP duty for the rest of the month with the twins as company.

Thalia, on the other hand, was as nonchalant as could be.

Leaning against a wood column, arms crossed, and eyes that where glued on me with a look that showed trained patience and curiosity.

"A peace offering." I said in response to Actaeon's question, repeating what I had told Alex before.

He must have followed my gaze and seen the two because he gave a light laugh that I knew meant he found my answer amusing.

"That be thinkin pretty far ahead there boy, you think _they'll_ actually take it that way?" he asked, making quick sense of my meaning whereas Alex had been stumped.

I shrugged as I turned back to him.

"I don't know. But it can't hurt right? From what I know about them, they won't give up. They would find their way here eventually, and it's not like we can keep her here forever." I said.

"Mh, well I can tell ya now son, there ain't no way in Hades that this plan's gonna get approved by the others. Cat Ears may take your side if she ever gets back, but I'd bet money on the others shooting you down like a rock." Actaeon stated.

"Then maybe… it be best if I didn't get permission at all." I said looking back at the Marshal and gave him a smug smirk, and he gave me a sly grin in return.

"Yeah… but you'd best think long and hard 'bout what'll happen when you got back," he laughed un-humorously, "that's if you come back at all." He added, blowing one last puff of smoke that morphed into a small deer that ran and jumped around him till it disappeared.

 _Show off._

Before I could talk more with him, I noticed Riley come running up with a little cloud of dust at her back.

She skirted to a halt in front of me and leaned down to catch her breath.

 _Déjà vu any one?_

"Well what's lit that fire on your rear this time Riles?" Actaeon asked, giving Riley his personal nickname for her that she secretly loved.

After a few seconds of huffing, she looked up and met my eyes, worry almost drowning her pupils.

"What's wrong sis?" I asked.

"It's Jenna," _huff_ "she's gone!" She said.

I glanced at Actaeon who returned my look.

Then sent my gaze across the Box looking for the color of auburn.

I vocally sighed at this new, yet very familiar, annoyance that greeted me.

"Not again..." I grunted.

 **LINE BREAK – 2**

 **Faith POV**

 _No, not again…not this again!_ I pleaded with my subconscious as it took me back through my worst nightmare.

The pure darkness shifted till I started to make out shapes; a radio board, a rear view mirror, and those same lucky dice that hung from it.

There was a smell of an overused air freshener and paper. _Just as I remembered it…_

I was once again sitting in the passenger seat of my dads car, everything looked to be in black and white like one of those old 1940's tv shows.

We were driving along late at night in the snowy weather, coming back home from a late night at the county courthouse that was just outside of Chicago.

My dad had a job as a state prosecutor and had to come to work on a Saturday to take care of some important documents.

Since I knew he would be home late and knowing that his office had plenty of things that needed to be done, I decided to tag along and help him out a little.

I honestly never really minded that my dad was busy, he was a hard worker and was dedicated to his job.

He would sometimes bring me to work with him in place of a babysitter (law school isn't exactly merciful when forcing their students into an eternity of dept).

Ever since I was little, he would bring me to work, somehow balancing his workload on taking care of me.

Thankfully, the Judge and staff he worked under was understanding and cut him some slack for it; that and I think they all kinda fell in love with me at first sight since the first time he took me was when I was just seven.

Since then the court building was like my second home, I'd almost memorized all the twists and turns there were in it.

Even the security staff new me by name and always let me through with no second thoughts.

Tonight was like any other time, we had just finished with the closing of another case involving a robbery and I was looking forward to the two of us enjoying a relaxing Sunday indoors.

But sometime before we left, a huge snow storm had begun to fall.

It being late in the month of January, I wasn't surprised by it, but it seemed bigger and more frightening than all the ones I'd seen before at this time of year.

Despite the storm, we decided to try for home.

And now here we were driving aimlessly through waves and waves of thick snow falls that stained the road making dad having to drive much slower than either of us would have liked to.

We were talking about the details of the case; rather I was asking questions and he was doing his best to sugar coat the answers.

But I can't really recall exactly what it was we said, I've tried again and again to remember, but it always ended up in bringing the fear and pain that I was all to familiar with.

My eyes drifted to my dad, he was a charming man.

Had an average nice smile and was well mannered to others.

He was jabbering on about something, but I couldn't hear him. I could only hear one sound when this dream came.

 _It'll be soon now, just try to tough it out till it's over just like you always do. It's just a dream, just a dream…._ I told myself, but deep down I knew I would end up reacting.

This isn't the first time I have had this nightmare and it won't be the last.

I used to have it very often. Every night after it happened, I would return to this seat and watch it happen over and over again.

It had gotten easier to handle once I joined the Hunt.

The strength of Artemis ran deep in me and help calm my nightmares, but they still came if only as frequent as a full moon each month.

As my dad continued his story, I looked ahead at the snow that fell past us as we drove by.

It always looked like we were traveling through the stars at speeds I could only dream of.

I'm sure at one point I found the display to be beautiful and wondrous, but now as I dreamt it, it scared me.

The darkness of the night that seemed to drain all the light and warmth in the world, how the snow came and blew by as it came out of nowhere and returned to nowhere, and the fact that you couldn't see more than a dozen feet ahead of you was unsettling to say the least.

The wind howled in rage, it was still the only sound I could register for some reason.

The road was brightly white, covered by compacted and frozen snow.

 _Please, stop…_

"Dad, you should stop the car. We should go back and wait this out." I heard me say, but knew it was pointless.

He failed to even acknowledge that I asked him anything and continued to move his mouth, remaining on whatever conversation he thought we were having.

Just like the many times I had this dream before.

Still, despite the futility, I continued trying.

"Dad! Please! You need to stop the car right NOW!" I tried to will my body to move; to hit him, grab the wheel, pull the emergency brake, anything.

But I just sat there, watching the road and knowing that it was approaching.

The fear of what was coming was overwhelming.

 _STOP! Someone stop this! Artemis, Thalia, someone!_ I prayed for her help again but nothing ever came.

I began to shiver as the temperature suddenly felt like it turned to below freezing.

I could feel _it_ coming.

I don't know what exactly it was, but it was big, fast, and powerful.

I lost control of my breath, ice cold air came in and out of my lungs in quick bursts.

My bones felt like they were being frozen from the inside out.

I looked at my dad once again and he was looking back at me with a warm smile that only made the reality of it more bitter and empty.

I think I might have been crying, but my face felt too cold for me to be sure.

" _Just END it already, make this STOP_." I screamed in my head, trying with all my might to struggle in the hopes I'd fall out of whatever bed I was in and be forced to wake up.

Then out of the sound of the billowing wind, came a horrid roar that sounded distant but was getting closer and closer.

I was shivering and I couldn't feel my limbs, my teeth chattered together in the cold air.

I looked ahead into the darkness in front of the car, and I saw in the distance a pair of eyes in the headlights that reflected a fiery red.

They trapped me in a stare that multiplied my fear ten times more.

 _No, no, no, please Gods NO!_

It continued its roar, as it became louder and louder the closer it came.

I began to faintly see the outline of the monster as it's limbs flexed and moved as it ran forward. Charging head first at us like a wild bull.

I tried in vain to force my eyes shut and block my ears from the sound of its piercing call for my death.

The beast leapt up in the air right for us and everything slowed down and went quiet.

I knew I couldn't stop this, because it had already happened.

My breath hitched and I couldn't get it back. The cold became unbearable and agonizing.

The beasts twin horns shone in the head light, its roaring hot breath steamed out of its mouth in the cold air.

Giant black muscled arms were reaching ahead, as if the beast was planning to catch the whole car.

Its face; long and forever trapped in a look of mad rage.

 _Please just let me die, don't take him away from me? I don't want to be alone again…please…_

But then, just before the beast hit its mark, my chest became immersed in warmth.

It was a slow and calming warmth that made the nightmare that tormented me begin to fade away, returning to its place as a memory deep within my mind.

It would never leave me, it will always follow me. Like a balled weight chained to my leg.

The warm feeling spread into my body like warm water of a bathtub filling up slowly while you laid down and enjoyed the slow process.

Letting it take away all the grime, pain, and problems you faced during your day.

 _This feeling… where is it coming from?_

I honestly didn't care where or how, I let continue it's work.

I felt my limbs return to me and I moved my arms around the warmth, taking in all I could get from it.

My mind seemed to pour out new memories, times of happiness and joy throughout my life.

My dad and I sitting on the couch on a rainy day, the two of us wrapped in soft, thick blankets while we watched one of my favorite movies, GhostBusters.

The thunderous applause I got in the auditorium when I entered my old schools talent concert in seventh grade for my poem titled: _The Beast of Possibility._

The hunters finding me after I finally became of age to leave the foster care system and showing me what it means to be in a family again.

I took in all these memories and I cherished them all.

Each were important moments that gave me courage and strength. They were like my anchors that kept me level and secure.

Before I knew it, all of the scenes vanished, the faint sounds of my laughter echoing as they did, and I began to feel myself stir from my sleep.

My eyelids felt like they were glued shut and my mouth felt as dry as a desert. My head had a slight ache to it, but it was manageable.

My body felt week, but I didn't feel any pain.

There was a smell of pine and…peaches?

 _That's an odd combo._

Both were potent in and they gave a surreal aura.

I think I was on some sort of bed that bent slightly putting my upper body at an elevation.

I tried to focus on what might be around me.

There was a humming sound I think might have been a fan, but I couldn't tell anything else.

 _Gotta open my eyes_.

After a few seconds of trying, I finally was able to open them a little.

The light wasn't too bright thankfully and I waited for the haze to go away and focus.

When they did, I was looking up at a wooden ceiling.

 _Wood? A cabin maybe?_

I looked to the sides and I assessed that I was in some type of hospital or medical building of some kind.

 _How did I get here? And what happened?_

I tried to remember what might have happened to earn me a ticket here, but my memory came up with static.

Then I notice that my chest had a heavier weight to it than it normally should, and that I had my arms wrapped around something that was breathing.

I looked down and saw that I was hugging a little girl as she clung to me.

She was laying on my right side and had her arms around my waste, with her head laying sideways on my breast as if she was listening for a heartbeat.

The girl had a patch of light red hair with princess curls that fluttered around.

For a moment I thought it was Artemis laying on me, but realized she was too young to be her.

This girl looked to be maybe five or six.

For some reason, I wasn't creeped out or anything.

In fact, the girl seemed to radiate with the same warm feeling I felt in my dream.

 _Is she the reason I woke up?_

I didn't know if she was sleeping or not, so I let her be for now and went back to looking around the room.

There were other beds in the room, but none of them were in use.

There was a clock on the wall that said it was 8:15, but I couldn't tell if it was morning or evening.

I was wondering if an attendant would come around when I felt a shift of the weight on my chest and looked down and was greeted by a pair of warm caramel chocolate brown eyes.

"Hi." The small and quiet voice of the girl said to me. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…yeah I think so. Um… what's your name?" I asked.

She gave me a small smile that automatically made me smile back.

"I'm Jenna." She said back like she was excited to give her name.

"Hello there Jenna, my name's Faith. Are…are you the one who woke me up?" I asked.

Her face changed to one of nervousnesses and I could feel her legs fidgeting.

"You were scared and crying…" She said with a guilty look on her face.

I reached up to my cheek and felt the traces of tear trails on them.

 _I really was crying then._

A heartbeat later, a scene suddenly flashed in my eyes; a lifeless body of a muddied wolf with a pool of blood around it.

Hands covered in blood and holding a knife, my knife; my hands.

My hands jerked to my mouth as I felt a scream trying to come out of my throat and my stomach began to feel sick.

I groaned as I struggled to keep whatever was left in my stomach from coming out.

I didn't know what that scene was from, I couldn't remember anything more.

But I was certain that I was the one who killed the wolf and the idea made me want to curl up and scream.

"What's wrong? Can I help? Please… don't cry." Jenna pleaded with me, climbing further onto the bed and began to cry as well, not understanding why I was reacting like this.

She then wrapped her arms around my neck in another hug that seemed much stronger than before.

The warmth returned again, this time it felt like I was being drenched in it, and I slowly started to calm down.

I still cried a little, but more out of fear than pain.

On instinct, I hugged the girl back, using her as a child would use a teddy bear when they were scared and began slowly rocking the both of us, trying to quell the tears from both her and me.

After a few minutes, I finally regained a more firm control over myself.

Taking a few deep breaths to return the lost air in my lungs.

 _That warmth, it came back when…_

I looked down to see the little girl still laying on me with her head resting in the crook of my neck and noticed her arms had gone slack, she had sweat build up on her forehead.

She seemed to have fallen asleep from exhaustion.

 _There's no doubt now, it was definitely you that the warmth came from._

For a moment I didn't know what to do. I still had no idea where I was or what happened to get me here.

 _Was the Hunt attacked, was I on some mission, or whatever else could have happened?_

Despite my confusion, I was once again tired from the terrible episode of pain and fear from just a moment ago, and this little one didn't seem like she was interested in going anywhere soon.

 _She seems so small and weak, yet not even knowing me, she did everything she could to help me._ I thought as I moved a strand of auburn hair out of her slightly perspiring face.

Deciding that I could afford to wait for answers for whenever I wake up later, I decided to simply get some more rest till then.

I moved so that the girl was lying next to me and pulled the light, white blanket over us.

She leaned into my chest as she slept, getting comfortable in the new position.

"Thank you for saving me, my little savior." I whispered to her.

I kissed her forehead and rested my own head next to her and wrapped her in my arms.

Soon enough, I fell back into a deep sleep; somehow I knew that there would be no nightmare waiting for me this time.

 **Next – Ch.12:** One Foot, then the Other


	12. One Foot Then the Other

**Orphans of Legends**

 **CH-12:** One Foot, Then the Other

 **Faith POV**

Dreamless sleep is bliss.

Sure sometimes (and in my case, most of the time), it offers mostly bad omens and past's demons.

But those rare times where you wake up slowly and actually feel like you had a well-deserved, full night of sleep; those occasions are the ones that get you through those rough busy days in life.

But, sadly, life waits for no one.

Eventually, you always have to wake up and face the new day…

 _Whichever god wrote that rule is an asshole._

As I stirred once again from my sleep, I felt unusually comfy.

The morning sun's rays showed through my window and blazed on the nearby wall and pictures.

Thankfully none of the rays were glaring in my face, at least not yet.

 _Come on Apollo, just another thirty minutes…_ I pleaded to myself (and Apollo), begging him to go back East for a change instead of his normal Western route.

I tried to ignore the sunlight and go back to the beautiful sleep that I was engulfed in.

But while moving my limbs to get further comfortable, I found them to be wrapped around something that was too firm to be a pillow and seemed to have its own breathing.

 _Did I fall asleep cuddling with one of our wolf pups again?_

That's happened from time to time, but I couldn't help it! They were just so cute and cuddly.

I decided to chance a glance at the breathing object only to see a flock of curly light red hair and a smaller body beneath it.

 _A little girl?_

She seemed to be leaning into me as she continued to sleep peacefully.

I wondered who this girl was and why she was sleeping with me for a moment, only to have last night's memories refill my mind and I was once again very thankful for the little girl and what she did for me.

 _My little savior…_

I re-flexibly began to stroke her hair softly.

Remembering she said her name was Jenna, but that's about all I got out of her before… _that_ happened.

I grimaced at the horrible memory that still gave me a sick feeling.

 _Did I really do that to that animal?_

Putting that thought aside, I began to look around to see my surroundings.

I was still on a hospital bed, in some sort of night gown.

The girl was in a small pink dress with short sleeves on it and was decorated in light blue flower outlines.

The blanket that covered the two of us was a light green color and wasn't overly heavy, but the soft fabric still made it comfy.

Then I noticed there was another sound of slow breathing other than the girl and I looked to my right only to see a sleeping boy sitting in an armchair near the bed that wasn't there the night before.

He was sleeping with his head leaning back against the headrest and his hands were together on his stomach.

I didn't recognize him at all.

He looked to be around my age and wore a deep blue shirt with a symbol of a gold horse on it.

He had dark brown hair and a light tan to his skin; there was a somewhat peaceful looking face as he slept at my bedside.

 _I wonder why he chose to sleep there of all places._

My attention was drawn away again by the sound of light snoring that sounded familiar to me.

A smile found its way on my face as I looked over across the room where I saw the snoring form of Thalia as she laid lazily with an open mouth on a sofa with a leg and an arm hanging off to the side like a drunk bimbo.

 _Where's a camera when you need it!_ I laughed softly at my own joke.

"Mmh… Good morning sunshine." I startled as I heard the slightly croaky voice of the boy next to me.

He looked to be just waking up himself, his eyes only half opened as he lifted his arms up and legs out to stretch out his muscles.

He yawned and grunted as he cracked his neck one way.

"Mmmmh, you both were out like rocks when I found you." He said more clearly gesturing towards the young girl beside me.

"At least she didn't end up in the stables again…" he grumbled to no one except himself while giving the girl a look like he was used to whatever stunts she usually does.

 _He seems friendly enough, I think..._

"Um…sorry, but who are you, and where am I?" I asked in a quiet voice so as to not wake the others.

He gave me a friendly smile and nodded his head.

"Yeah, I figured you'd ask that first. Well to start off; my name's Thaddeus, I work and live here. To answer your second question; you're among friends. I'd tell you more, but I think your Lieutenant over there would do a better job than I could." He said nodding towards Thalia who gave a snort in acknowledgement and made both of us laugh.

 _Thaddeus huh._

It seems like kind of an old-fashioned name, but it held a power in it that made you think whoever was named it had earned it somehow _._

Our laughter apparently caused Jenna to wake up as she began to shift around.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at me and gave me a small yet happy smile which I couldn't help but return.

"Good morning." I said to her in a calm voice, she hummed and nodded back to me while she scratched out some morning grime in her eye.

"Morning _Trouble_." Thaddeus said in a joking tone and forced her to fumble around till she had her head facing him.

"Morning Thady…" she mouthed in a tired voice that showed she wasn't fully awake just yet.

 _Thady?_ I crunched my brows in confusion and glanced at the boy again, the first thought that came to mind was that he was her father.

 _He only looks to be in his early twenties, and what's with calling her 'Trouble'? She doesn't look troublesome to me._

He seemed to notice my confusion and mouthed the word; 'NICKNAMES'.

I nodded at his clarification, but still wished to know how she had earned hers since she seemed so sweet to me.

Thaddeus stretched again, then got up and gave the little girl a kiss on the forehead, stroking her head affectionately.

 _Hm, her brother maybe, or someone along those lines._

He noticed me staring and giving him a grin, which caused him to blush slightly and glance away in embarrassment.

"Well…" _clears throat_ , "Let's have a look at you." He said grabbing a rolling tray and bringing it near the bed.

 _Is he a doctor now or something?_

He picked up a long and small flashlight and moved his hand towards my head.

I automatically leaned away slightly, not knowing what he was going to do.

"Relax, I'm just going to check your vitals and reactions. Now follow the light." He said as he put a hand near my eye and waved the light back and forth.

Instinctively, I followed the light, my memory going back to when my dad had taken me to get a physical at the doctor's office.

But I was still nervous, seeing as how a boy I had just met now had a hand on my head.

After going back and forth, he seemed satisfied and placed both his hands on the underside of my jaw and moved them slowly in simultaneous fashion; glancing off to the side as if trying to focus more on how my throat felt.

Nodding again, he grabbed a doctor's stethoscope and placed the ears pieces in his own and put the other end on various spots on my chest and stomach, telling me when to breath in and out.

I was beginning to feel a little self-conscious and it only worsened each time he touched me with the bell of the stethoscope, I could feel the cold of the metal go through my patients gown and on my skin.

The various (almost random) spots he'd place it were also a little too invasive than I would have liked.

But he wasn't even looking at me very much, choosing to look off to the side or down as if concentrating on listening to my heart beat.

 _Calm down girl, he's just someone who is trying to make sure you're okay. There's absolutely no reason to think he'll start any funny business._ I thought as I felt a slight warmth in my cheeks.

 _Please don't let Thalia wake up to see me like this!_ I prayed to Morpheus, hoping that he would keep her asleep just a little longer.

Jenna lightly giggled at the whole scene, my reactions to Thaddeus's movements were obviously amusing to the young toddler.

Thankfully he didn't seem to notice that either. His focus and care made me think that he had done this many times before.

"Alright, can you tell me your name?" He asked after he was done and placed the tool back on the tray.

"It's…it's Faith." I said, just short of a whisper, but loud enough so that he heard.

"Do you know what your profession is?" he continued.

"I'm a member of Artemis's Hunters." He nodded again satisfied.

"Age?" He asked, but I just gave a slight laugh at the question.

"Don't you know it's rude to ask a girl her age?" I joked and he smirked, but I also noticed a slight blush to his cheeks.

"Right, I guess I'll just have to make an educated guess; Looks to be in late teens, just shy of… three… maybe four hundred?" he offered, and I actually had a decent laugh at the joke.

"I'll just write the first part and leave it at that." He said after we both finished with our jokes.

 _At least he's not treating me like most kids from Camp Half Blood do, they've always looked at me like I was going to sucker punch them or something if they so much as look at me._

"Alrighty, do you feel any dizziness, agitation, or pain anywhere?" He asked as he picked up a clipboard and began writing down on it.

"No, I just feel a little tired and thirsty." I said, finally noticing how dry my mouth was.

"No surprise there, you've been snoozing for that last three days." He replied as he wrote.

 _Three Days! How could I have been sleeping for three full days?!_

"What exactly happened to me, and where am I? Is this one of the camps?" I asked.

He stopped writing and seemed to ponder his thoughts, as if debating whether to answer me.

"What's the last thing you remember?" He asked while giving me an inquisitive look.

But I hadn't really thought about it too much.

 _What_ is _the last thing I remember?_

I closed my eyes, diving into my recent memories, and got mostly shapes and small glimpses at scenes that didn't make sense to me, until I came across the most definite memory I could come up with.

"I was in the Hunters camp, I don't know what the day was, but I was training with the others when I was told I was going on some mission." I decided to give nothing else both due to the fact that I didn't want to give too much information to a stranger, and that I couldn't recall much of anything else.

The glimpses of fighting still hung around my head, but I wasn't going to mention those till I knew more.

He pondered my answer, then nodded as if he decided something with himself.

"Well, to answer your second question; No, this is neither of the two camps you would be familiar with. As for what happened, the long and short of it; you were attacked just outside our borders. Your group had a pack of werewolves and dracaena on your tale, and you were all just about defeated when we arrived." He said as he sat back down in the arm chair.

"It's probably best for Thalia to tell you the rest of the story, she's already been informed enough about us to give you a good idea of your situation." He said giving me a friendly smile. I nodded absently, still trying to unclog my own thoughts.

Jenna, now more awake, slowly moved to get up and hopped off the bed and joined Thaddeus, sitting on his lap and leaning against his chest tiredly.

He smiled at the girl and stroked her back comfortingly.

 _They do make a nice pair._ I thought as I smiled at the scene.

"I think it's time I take this one back home for now so we both can get ready for the day." He said as he scooped the girl up, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"If you're feeling better enough to walk around, we'll see you at breakfast, but don't strain yourself too much, just take it slow and steady. And don't forget to drink plenty of water throughout the day." He said as he began walking away towards the door.

As he walked away, Jenna looked back and gave a tired wave at me which I happily returned, then they were gone.

 _I'd like to see her again soon._ I thought, then remembered Thalia was still snoring away on the nearby sofa and I debated how I should wake her.

Thalia never has been what you would call a ' _morning person_ '.

We'd actually have to draw straws back in the Hunters camp as to who would be the unlucky one who goes to wake her up on those rare occasions she slept in.

The last time it happened, Charlie got zapped right out of the tent with parts of her hair pointed in various directions looking like an anime character with an overly dramatic amount of applied hair gel.

The memory brought a smile on my face as I argued an attempt that could result in a similar fate for myself.

I decided to risk it and began unwrapping my legs from the blanket and slowly swung them over the side.

The hard floor was cold on my bare feet and caused a shiver to go up my spine that woke me up even further.

Putting some weight on them, I began to stand and so far, they seemed to be holding up.

I finally got all of my weight off the bed and took a second to stabilize myself while holding on to the bed.

I took in a sharp breath as I felt a small attack of dizziness hit me.

 _Focus girl, just start with one foot._

I forced my leg muscles to tighten and pulled my leg up and brought it back down just a few inches ahead of where it was before.

 _And now the other…_

As I lifted my other leg, my muscles suddenly buckled down.

I tried to grab anything to stop my fall but ended up just taking the whole tool tray down with me.

The clash that followed covered my grunt as I hit the floor hard.

The sound was loud and deafening like a boom from a gun.

On the up side, it successfully got Thalia's full attention and she shot up like a flash of lightning.

On the down side, it _really_ hurt.

"FAITH!" I heard her scream and she was at my side in an instant.

"Doc!" She yelled but it sounded a little faint as the dizziness hit me again ten times worse than when I was standing.

 _Guess I should have followed Nurse Thady's advice._

I struggled to lift myself up and felt two pairs of hands around my arms that helped to lift me up.

I eventually found myself back on the bed again and had a worried looking Lieutenant of Artemis and an older looking woman in a doctor's coat checking me for any serious injuries.

"Thank the God's you're awake!" Thalia said in exasperation.

Then she looked like she noticed something was missing and glanced around.

"What happened to Thaddeus and Jenna?" She asked to no one in particular.

"Uh…He took her home." I said, still trying to get my mind off the merry-go-round it currently was riding on.

"He said that I'd be okay if I took it slow, but I guess I didn't go slow enough." I admitted.

"Don't feel too bad dear, most kids I've seen here don't even know _how_ to take it slow." Said the doctor giving me a warm smile.

"Well you don't look to have any lasting injuries." She added as she picked up the clipboard Thaddeus had written on earlier and nodded absently as she read it over.

She then glanced at her watch on her wrist.

"You still have an hour and a half till the end of breakfast, so why don't you take a few minutes and collect yourself before you try to get up again; _And_ with help this time." She said, adding the last part with a pair of raised eyebrows over her spectacles.

I nodded instantly.

She then took out a medicine bottle from her pocket and took out a small pill that was half orange and half white.

"Here, this is a small dose of Nectar that should get rid of that dizziness. But I highly recommend that you not strain yourself, for today at least." She said.

I nodded my head again, "Yes, ma'am." I said obediently and swallowed the pill.

I didn't feel any different yet so I'm guessing it's one of those things that takes its time.

She gave me a kind smile that seemed to take away her authority.

"It's Jane dear, just Jane; calling me ma'am makes me feel as old as I look." She joked and got a little laugh out of me and Thalia.

"You have no idea how relieved I am to have you awake, it's been a rough time and I needed an old face around me." Thalia exclaimed.

I took this time to ask the questions that Thaddeus said I should save till now.

"Um, Thalia? What exactly happened? I don't remember anything after the night we left." I asked and her face morphed from one of relief to sadness and discomfort.

Jane also became uncomfortable and looked at Thalia in a sympathetically.

"I think it might be best if I step outside for this. I'll make sure no one comes in until you're done." She said to which Thalia nodded and gave her a thankful look.

 _Not the best way to start a story._ I thought as I began to catch on to the feeling of sadness that came with the topic.

Once Jane was out of the room, I reached out and gripped Thalia's hand.

"Thalia, please…Whatever it is, I need to know." I pleaded, but she seemed to be fighting back tears. Something I've never seen her do before and it instantly told me that this was not going to be an easy story to hear.

She sniffled and whipped her eye before refocusing back on me.

"W-well, what do you know so far." She asked.

"You, me, Alice, and Carson were going on a mission to… t-the Amazons I think." She nodded her head in confirmation and waited for me to continue.

"I don't remember much else, just flashes of us running and fighting and…"

The scene of the wolf under me flashed up, giving me a shiver.

"…and _other_ things." I finished, then glanced at Thalia who was leaning on the bed and looking like she was preparing herself.

Her eyes were shut and frustration was evident on her.

"We _did_ go to see the Amazons, like we were supposed to, but there was another thing that Artemis wanted me to check out afterwards." She said, keeping her eyes on the blankets that were currently being strangled by her.

I made to grab one of her hands, but hesitated, not really being used to this kind of interaction with my lieutenant before.

"What was it?" I asked.

"A recon mission, of a place called Hells Canyon in Idaho. Artemis had gotten word that there were a lot of monster sightings in that area so she wanted me to check it out." Thalia paused to take a deep breath before continuing.

"It was only supposed to be me, but Carson and Alice refused to let me go alone and in the end we all agreed to it." She gave a gruff laugh at herself.

"Just like them to not let orders get in their way." She added.

I nodded in agreement but was still worried by the tone of Thalia's voice.

But then a key detail had clicked in my head.

Taking another glance around, noticing for the first time that neither Alice or Carson weren here.

"Where are they?" I asked.

Thalia's body stiffened, she took in another deep breath before continuing.

And then she told me.

She told me everything.

About the Canyon, our week-long trek through the wilderness, trying to outrun our werewolves and dracaena.

She had stopped just when we had been cornered and surrounded.

Throughout the whole story, my memories began to place themselves in my mind.

Not all of them at once, but the more she spoke, the more I remembered, and I was not liking any of it.

In fact I almost preferred not knowing any of this at all.

The feeling of defeat and death that had clung to me in those memories was slowly returning to me and I almost wished that the memories had stayed forgotten.

I didn't know how, but immediately as she spoke, I glimpsed a memory of myself leaning over a bleeding Carson while another pair of hands were gripping her stomach.

My friend was covered in blood and looked as pale as a ghost.

My sick feeling returned and I gripped my mouth with my free hand and began balling out.

It wasn't as bad as it was last night when Jenna was here, but the emotional pain still hit me hard.

Thalia gripped my hand tighter but switched to a hug.

Her arms were tight around me as she let a few tears of her own fall down her cheeks.

She knew what I was remembering and how hard it was to accept.

It could have been hours, but neither of us cared as we let out all the pain and sadness we shared.

After however long it took us to vent, we finally managed to downgrade to sniffling.

"W-what" _sniff "…_ What happened after…after Carson…?" I couldn't even finish the question.

Thalia wiped away whatever tears she had left on her face and sniffed.

"The group that saved us came in and took out the last of the monsters, I managed to stay standing for a while till a goddess showed up and I lost consciousness after she promised we'd be safe." She said.

 _A Goddess saved us?_

"Who was she? The goddess?" I asked.

Thalia gave a small grunt of laughter as if there was some kind of inside joke.

"She said she was Atalanta if you can believe it, I know I couldn't and almost still don't." She admitted.

 _Atalanta?_

I remember hearing her mentioned in a few stories from Artemis and the elder Hunters, but I didn't really give the name much…

 _Wait, what about…_

I looked at Thalia again.

"What about Alice?" I asked with desperation in having Thalia tell me she was alright.

"The people here say that she was taken in the chaos of the fight. She could be anywhere by now… But they said that Atalanta went off to try and bring her back." Thalia said but became lost in what I could only guess was guilt.

"This is all my fault…" She whispered.

That little admission had me at a blank.

Here was Thalia Grace, probably the toughest girl in the world, saying she had failed.

I considered what I should do next as a response.

Thalia and I had never had a really close relationship and I didn't know much about her personally.

But… I knew that having her place all the blame on herself was not right.

"No… no don't even go there." I said.

"Faith I'm so-" she went on but I interrupted.

"We all agreed to go." I said gripping her hand, trying to stop her from falling down a guilt trip.

"But, I shouldn't have let you girls come. I should have told you all to just go home without me! Maybe then it would have just been me instead and both of them would still be here." She said, looking more defeated then I ever thought could be possible.

She was a daughter of Zeus, the Lieutenant of Atremis's Hunt, and from what I have heard; one of the greatest fighters of her time and even today.

She seemed like the kind of person you'd never expect to cry or guilt herself; but know after seeing her like this, I realized she was no less human than any of the other Hunters.

 _Or anyone else._

"There's… no point in thinking what could have happened… one way or another; _it happened_." I said, trying my very best to comfort her.

She kept her gaze down but nodded slightly.

I knew it would take her some time.

leadership is as much a burden as it is an honor.

As a Daughter of Zeus, she must always be expected to lead.

 _I know this is a self-centered thought, but I'm glad I'm not the one in her position, the pressure alone would suffocate me._

"So," I said to get her attention after a minute of silence, "could you tell me where exactly we are?" I asked.

She sniffed one last time then gave me a small nod.

"I guess so, but it might be best if I just showed you, or are your legs still jelly?" she joked, finally showing a small trace of her familiar smile.

At least _she's still got some of that spunk in her._

Thalia was not someone who let her true feelings show too often.

Unless of course said feeling happened to be rage or humor; that she had plenty of.

"Well… help me up this time, and then we can get something to eat. My stomach feels like it hasn't eaten in months." I said as I began to move off the bed; this time, I had help.

 _Alright girl, round two. One foot, then the other…_

 **Next – Ch.** 13: The Most Important Meal of the Day.


	13. The Most Important Meal of the Day

**Orphans of Legends**

 **CH-13:** The Most Important Meal of the Day

 **Thaddeus POV**

After Jenna and I finally got all cleaned up and everything, we were making are way over to the Hall for some breakfast.

She walked alongside me, occasionally skipping at random times and humming what I could only guess was her own mashup of songs.

 _How she gets so much energy every day; I will never know._

"Hey Thad! Wait up!" I heard a girl call from behind and turned to see Riley running down the stairs from her own room.

She was trying to put her hair into a messy bun of some sorts.

 _And failing epically!_ I thought as I laughed lightly.

By the time she reached me, she settled for just having some of her hair in and let the rest fall around her face.

"You guys heading to breakfast?" she asked.

I nodded and she nodded back, then glanced at Jenna.

"Where did you end up finding her last night?" she asked.

"The infirmary, fast asleep along with that second hunter." I said.

"Oh! Which reminds me; Jenna! Come here a minute?" I yelled out for her and she turned and came back.

She stopped in front of us and stared expectantly up at me with those gawking brown eyes that could make a Hellhound want to act like a little puppy at her feet.

"You remember what we talked about yesterday? On our way back from the archery fields?" I asked.

She immediately lost her curious face and replaced it with a downed look and brought her eyes to the ground as she nodded slowly.

" _And_ … do you have something you want to say to Riley here?" I said gesturing to my sister who had been looking a little confused at first but eventually caught on and brought her hands on her hips in an expectant look while also looking at the little toddler.

Jenna stood still, shifting from side to side till eventually she walked over to Riley and hugged her legs, which caught my sister off guard.

"I'm sorry for running away, I promise not to do it again." Jenna said in a quiet and soft tone.

For a while, Riley just stood there.

Apparently not expecting Jenna to be so forth-coming with the apology.

After I coughed ( _purposefully_ ), she shook herself out of her trance and returned the hug as best she could while still standing.

"I forgive you Jenna." She said, and gave me a thankful look.

"Riley, why don't you go ahead, we'll be along in a few minutes." I asked, she nodded and separated from Jenna who walked back over to me.

After Riley was far enough to not overhear us I kneeled down to Jenna's height, leaning on my knee.

"Now…I know you didn't mean to worry us by running off like that yesterday. But doing that scares us, we won't know where you are and if something happened to you, I wouldn't be there to help; do you understand what I'm saying Jenna?" I asked and she nodded, still not meeting my eyes.

"And to show what'll happen if you _do_ run off again, you're going to help me clean out Blue's pen later today." I said, standing back up and dusting the dust off my pants.

She gained a look of disgust at that announcement.

"But it's stinky and dirty there!" she complained.

"Well you should have thought of that before you ran off. If this happens again, I'll make you clean the _whole_ stall by yourself, _got it_?" I said in a firm tone, but not enough to make it sound like I was too angry.

One skill my mother always said that was the most important to teach a child is that bad decisions have consciences.

 _Although I think I probably should have done this much earlier… Eh well, it's not like there's a rule book for raising a child, at least not one that I've heard of that is meant for my Jenna._

Jenna pouted at my directness, but nodded, deciding not to argue any further.

She still looked down at the ground, probably thinking like most toddlers do; ' _this isn't fair_ ' or ' _this is stupid_ '.

Since she seemed so focused on the dirt below us, I decided to simply start walking to the Hall and have her catch up.

 _Life waits for no one as Actaeon says._

After a few steps, I glanced back only to see her still standing in the same spot as before.

"S _igh…"_

 _Kids.._. I thought, shaking my head.

"Come on Trouble, the foods gonna get eaten with _or_ without you." I warned her and she groaned in defeat as she began walking just behind me, but had decided to remain back there and kept to herself for the rest of the walk to the Hall.

I opened the door for her and we both entered.

It was not surprising for it to be busier than it was last night for dinner.

There was a buzz of chatter in the room that had to have about forty or so people with ages ranging from twelve to twenty.

The hearth in the center of the Hall was ablaze in its full glory.

It usually burns brighter in the morning than in the evening.

 _Why_? I couldn't say since I never really cared enough to ask.

 _More people? Comfy food? Or perhaps Vesta is simply more of a morning person?_

Looking down, I noticed that Jenna had not yet gotten out of her little sad routine and kept her gaze lowered and lacked her normally cheerful smile.

I sighed at myself, _again_ , accepting that more _drastic_ measures were now required.

I quickly bent down and lifted her up and over my head so that she was sitting on my shoulders.

"Chin up now Jenna, the pen won't be that bad. When we're done, I'll take you on Blue for a little ride, kay?" I suggested and she seemed to at least perk up a little and got rid of her sad attitude.

I walked us over to the food line that had only about eight or so people in it while Jenna held my head for balance.

Riley was about half way in the line, she looked back and waved to us and I felt Jenna wave back as my head shake with her movements.

So far, the morning felt as normal as ever till the volume of the room got noticeably lower rather quickly.

I glanced around and noticed almost everyone was sneaking various glances towards the doors, trying and failing not to get caught staring at something.

I looked back too only two see none other than our two esteemed guests; Thalia and Faith, standing in the doorway looking around.

Thalia seemed to notice the glances but didn't seem to mind them very much.

Faith, on the other hand, was too absorbed in looking all about the Hall, taking in all the designs and decorations with a face of awe.

They were both wearing clothes that were probably hand-me-downs, save for the Ranch T-shirts which we had enough to give an army.

Thalia had a pair of denim jeans that looked worn out on the knees (and no, not like those weird/stupid ones at the store that you buy with " _custom_ " made tears and shreds. These were subtle and natural).

Her hair was still short and slightly spiky, she didn't seem to give it much attention as most girls tend to do.

Her wrists had spiked bands on them that seemed to contrast pretty well with her hair style.

Overall she gave of a punk rock vibe that made you half expect her to bring out a guitar and start singing rock and roll.

And the other half of my thoughts figured she'd beat me up for suggesting the idea of her singing.

And Faith... _wow._

She looked much better than when I found her on the ground with mud, grime, and blood all over her; barely a glint of life left in her eyes.

Now she looked clean and had curiosity vibrant in her light blue eyes.

She too wore a Ranch shirt that went well with her hair that I noted was now a shade of dirty blonde whereas before it looked entirely brown from all the muck.

She had a pair of lightly tanned khaki shorts with pockets on the side of the upper leg.

They actually looked more like a guy's kind of shorts rather than a girl's, with them looking more baggy and stuff, but she pulled them off nicely.

Her figure was slim and she was slightly taller than Thalia was, making her look older in age by a few years, but not as tough.

She had her shoulder length hair halfway up in a small tail in the back with the rest falling down her neck.

She had no make-up, and looked like she barely gave herself as much attention as most girls I've known would.

I found the look suited her; she was… _pretty (simple yes, but sometimes simple just works)._

Realizing that I might have been looking a little longer than I probably should have, I turned my attention up to Jenna, hoping my cheeks color was still it's usual shade.

"Hey, look who just came in." I said and she immediately brightened up when she saw her former bed-mate.

"FAITH!" she shouted and jumped up and down on my shoulders, telling me she wanted down.

Almost right after I released her on the ground, she ran over to Faith who heard her and made a beautiful smile at seeing her.

She bent down to hug the little girl as she ran into her arms.

 _Glad to see their getting along nicely._ I thought giving the pair a small smile.

I was really surprised to have found Jenna being in the infirmary of all places.

The last time she was there, she was complaining because she was getting a flu shot and swore she'd never get sick again.

As for her snoozing with the Hunter, Faith.

 _Beautiful name._

I could venture to guess her reasoning, and if I was right, then I didn't know whether to be proud or scared.

The two Hunters eventually made their way towards me, with Jenna almost beaming alongside them.

As they got closer, I noticed that both had a little red in their eyes.

 _Guess they both finally mourned over their friend._

"Hey fellas, how're you holding up?" I asked as they joined me in line.

"We're good for now, but the side glances _are_ a little annoying." Thalia answered, gesturing with her head to the crowd that had returned mostly to their own conversations but still gave the pair curious looks.

I spotted Clayton off in a corner, sitting with his group that liked to follow him everywhere like pups following their daddy.

He was giving all of us the evil eyes that he showed all too often, but swiftly looked down when he noticed me giving him a ' _you got something to say?_ ' look.

He may be a tough bugger, but he knows enough from experience that having me as an enemy is too much trouble than it's worth.

I looked back to Thalia, who didn't seem to notice the exchange of glares.

"Honestly I'm surprised, you seem so used to it." I said giving the line a glance and moved up a few steps.

"Yeah well…it's almost a tradition at Camp Half-Blood. Since we only go there once every few years or so, sometimes even less. I was kinda expecting the whole room to go quiet." She said, putting her hands in her pants pockets.

But then her face sparked up and she snapped her fingers like an idea had just hit her.

"Oh, before I forget, Alex said you guys brought our weapons back with you. And that there were a few rules about them around here." She said.

"Yeah, they _should_ be in the armory, but it's not like I personally put them there myself." I said, but got a glare that said Thalia didn't like my level of encouragement.

"They're there, don't worry. I can take you over to check later." I added.

"And as for the rules, their simple; it's basically a library book rent and return system. You can check out a weapon, but you can only use them outside the Box and never bring them into town or the sports fields. You'll need to return it by the end of the day at dusk."

"Why can't you use them anywhere?" she asked.

"You've seen around the Box, there isn't exactly a lot of room for sparing and stuff. As for the town and sports field; Well I guess they just don't like the idea of lethal items in public areas." I said, shrugging halfway through my rant.

"But what about monster attacks or other threats? What do you do when things like that get in, hope they don't huff and puff and blow your house down?" Thalia joked with a smirk.

"Ha ha, no. Actually it's almost impossible for things to get in without them knowing about it. You'd have better luck breaking into Fort Knox than our borders." I said.

I glanced at Faith, noticing that she seemed rather quiet and saw that she had Jenna on her hip and was looking around as the little girl pointed out things here and there while Faith licensed with a clear interest that I could tell was genuine.

"And who are ' _them'_?" Thalia asked, folding her arms up.

"Hm? Them? Oh… _them._ I mean the Elders, they've guarded our little part of the world for over a hundred years. You've already met one of them I think." I said and she began to think for a minute.

"That cowboy guy?" she asked with a cocked head, it caused me to laugh at that.

 _Ha! Cowboy Guy, that's a good one._

"If you mean Actaeon, then yeah. But the funny thing is, I don't think he's ever actually ridden a horse in his whole life." I said causing myself and Thalia to laugh lightly at the fact.

Before I knew it, the line had vanished and it was our turn.

I looked in the kitchen and saw the twins once again on duty following their punishment, but they didn't seem as depressed as yesterday though.

 _Time for some morning fun._

"Morning Kayleigh, Katrina. You both are looking as _lovely_ as ever in those adorable aprons." I said jokingly and caused Kayleigh to glare at me with those mystic yet sharp purple eyes of hers, while Katrina at least found my joke to be worth a smirk.

"I swear Thaddeus, keep it up and I'm going to slip your horse an indigestion potion that will last a week!" Kayleigh growled.

"Well, I'd be shaking if it weren't for the idea of you making a _workable_ potion being a hard thing to imagine." I retorted and she just scoffed and shook her head at me.

"Just take your food and buzz off." She said to me.

I saw no more need for me to continue my campaign of annoyance, so I grabbed a plate of eggs and sausage and headed off to a table.

"Pleasure as always Kayleigh." I added right before leaving.

Thalia was close behind me with her own plate.

"I take it you two don't get along." She said nodding back at Kayleigh.

" _Nah_ , we're pretty good. I just like to mess with her." I said with a smirk on my face that Thalia returned with her own.

I spotted Riley sitting at our usual table along with Jaclyn and Jack, talking about something or other.

I began making my way over with Thalia at my heels. Faith and Jenna were no doubt not far behind.

"So, about last night, before the whole 'missing person' thing…" She hesitated before taking a breath.

"I'm sorry about what I said." She said.

I slowly stopped and looked back at her to see she was currently focusing heavily on the details of her meal.

 _Did a daughter of Zeus just say she was sorry? The Great Basin must be flooding right about now._

"Don't worry about it. If I was in your shoes, I would've punched someone with how much bull we've been feeding you." I said. She looked up and raised her brows at me.

"Really?" she asked.

"Ahhh… probably not, but I'd bet I would've shouted out and call them a few choice words." I said grinning, turning back towards the table.

I don't know how she reacted to my little joke, but she kept following me which was a plus I guess.

"What were you doing in that building?" She asked after a few seconds.

My guess is she was referring to just before I heard about Jenna; when I didn't have enough time to explain my ridiculous, risky, and downright stupid plan.

"Oh that. Well that was me trying to come up with an answer to your current problem." I said looking back, but Thalia just looked at me curiously.

"You're going to have to be more specific, I have a _lot_ of problems to keep track of." She said in a matter-of-fact way which I gave a smirk at.

"Your missing friend, the one who was captured." I clarified. That got her attention in full.

"How?" she asked just as we arrived at the table.

"It would be better if we talk about it later." I said which she replied with a groan of annoyance, but nodded in agreement.

"Talk about what later?" Jaclyn asked, once again being too nosy as usual.

"Nothing _you_ need to know about Jaclyn." I deadpanned as I sat down across from her next to Riley.

Jack, who was sitting next to Jaclyn, signed 'good morning' to me and I signed back the same.

A little tradition the two of us started a while ago, even though he can hear me perfectly.

Thalia hesitated, glancing around the room awkwardly like a new student in a school looking aimlessly for a lonely part of the lunch room to sit because they weren't a _groupie_ yet.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Are there assigned tables here?" she asked which I shook my head at.

She shrugged and sat on the same bench I did, but kept a lengthy distance from me.

 _Geez, I hope it's not my smell, I just showered._

I glanced back to check on the two former bed-mates to see them making their way here with Jenna smiling while carrying her own try in her two hands, and Faith who continued to look around the place.

They both reached the table and I helped Jenna with her tray as she sat next to me.

I debated getting a booster seat, since her shoulders barley went above the table top, but remembered she asked not to have one last time because she was a, quote: " _Big girl now_."

Faith sat in between her and Thalia.

"Aren't you gonna introduce us to your new pals Thad?" Jaclyn asked in her normal snarky voice.

"They're sitting right in front of you Jaclyn, if you want to know their names, ask _them_ not me." I said.

 _Far be it for me to speak for someone who would probably not like a boy speaking for them._

I took a bite of my sausage. _Mmmm, nothing like good old Jorge's cooking to relax your stomach._

Giving me her all too familiar glare, she turned her gaze towards the two Hunters giving them a once over, with Thalia returning the gesture.

Faith was still conversing with Jenna about the Hall.

"Names Jaclyn, and this Jack," she pointed her thumb at her neighbor who waved, "you?" she asked nodding her head at Thalia.

"Thalia, and this is Faith." She answered.

I glanced at Riley, expecting her to join the conversation, but she was more absorbed in her food and trying to avoid looking towards the Hunters.

 _I swear, one day I'm going to get Riley to be more confident._

"So…you two don't look like what I thought Hunters would look like." Jaclyn confessed.

 _Loose tongued as usual._

"Thought you people would be more… _elegant_ looking and have pointed ears like elves, or cat tails, or something." I immediately stopped mid-chew and slowly lifted my head up and looked at her giving her a ' _what'_ face.

Thalia, Riley, Jack, and Faith (who'd caught what Jaclyn said) all gave her a similar stare that I was.

Then we all started laughing, with Jenna joining in (probably not getting anything about the joke but still laughed anyway).

"Wh-" _ha ha, "_ W-where did you get such a crazy idea as that?!" Thalia said after a minute of laughter, forcing Jaclyn to fade slightly red in embarrassment.

She may be a piece of work, but she never likes it when she's the center of attention.

 _As most of us don't._

"Well I…!" she started, but stopped to allow all of us to simmer down from our laughing.

"I-I just thought that since Atalanta was a Hunter before, that that's how they all looked!" she shouted.

"And the pointed ears?" I asked.

"I kinda thought they were actually elves, like in the Lord of the Rings." Was her answer.

But it only caused another round of laughter.

I then noticed two things, one: I never pegged Jaclyn as a Tolkien fan, and two: that the murmuring around the hall had returned to what it previously was before the two Hunters entered.

 _I guess a little laughter really can relax a room._

"Well I'm flattered you thought we'd be elegant, but most of the time we'd all have dirt and grime on us from crawling around every now and then, camouflage isn't exactly a clean business; and there is never a beauty salon where we tend to hang out." Thalia said, spreading another wave of giggles and laughs around.

"Nice to see you fellas are gettin along nicely." A gruff voice said from behind me and I turned to see Actaeon standing in all his rustic glory.

"I take it the food be to your liking, ay Hunters?" he asked the two girls who both nodded absently, not used to the mans over enthusiastic nature.

"Excellent!" He then clapped his hand on my shoulder.

"Ready for your class later-on?" he asked, referring to the archery class I was supposed to be teaching in a few hours.

 _Which he already knew I was ready as usual, so what could this old geezer be getting at?_

"Uh… yeah. I got everything ready the other day before hand." I said.

"Good, good. I was wondering, maybe our two guests would be up for givin you some helpin hands. That is, course, if they'd be willin to lend theirs to us?" he said, directing the question in his statement to the girls sitting next to me.

Thalia and Faith gave the Marshal a look that said ' _was he serious_?'

"Um…" I said, not really knowing what he was trying to pull, but the look he was giving me told that this was all a part of another one of his clever ideas that he likes to make.

"Well, sure." I said then looked at the Hunters.

"Only if you're up for it?" I asked them.

Faith didn't look too enthusiastic at the idea, but she looked to Thalia questioningly.

Thalia seemed to think it over for a while in her head, glancing at Faith once as if she was asking if she was up for it.

After thinking it over, Faith shrugged in acceptance and Thalia nodded in agreement.

 _Did I just witness a telepathic conversation? Seriously. Can Hunters do that?_

"Shure, I guess we'll help out. But why ask us?" She asked.

"Well…I just figures, while you're here, might as well make use of your experiences and trainin. Not everybody here has been through what you two been through, and I also don't think either of the two uh you have full schedules. _So…_ enjoy yourselves." He said with a knowing smirk on his face and walked away before either Thalia or Faith could change their minds.

They both watched the Marshal as he walked out, giving him the ' _did he really just do that_ ' look.

Then they turned back to us.

"Does he do that to everyone?" Thalia asked and all of us gave a chorus of nods and yes's.

"Who was that exactly, he smells like a smoke house restaurant?" Faith asked Thalia.

"He's kind of like Chiron at Half Blood, only a lot more wittier and his cowboy accent." She replied and sent most of us into giggles at the summary of our Marshal.

"Sorry about that, if you two don't want to do it, you don't have to." I said, but Thalia shook her head at me.

"Nah, will do it. It'll help pass the time for whenever Atalanta gets back with Alice… or without her." She added and put the whole table in a sad atmosphere.

"If anyone can bring her back, she can." Jaclyn said, her voice filled with certainty.

Jack and I nodded in agreement, but the two hunters still looked defeated.

"Well!" I said as I finished off my plate and took Jenna's who had finished hers rather quickly.

"I better go get the range ready. And since you seem to keep following me, you're coming too." I said to Jenna who smiled guiltily.

I got up and put the trays on a rack near the wash room and came back to the table.

"You two mind giving me a hand with the gear?" I asked the Hunters and both nodded and got up to put their own plates away.

While they were away for the moment, I looked to my friends.

"Anyone else up for helping me?" I asked with a spark of hope.

"HA! Me with a bow? Please, I couldn't shoot a rock if it was the size of a horse." Jaclyn proclaimed.

 _That's a no._

I looked to Jack who shook his head and signed 'I've got gate duty till noon.'

 _Another no._

I glanced to Riley, and she seemed to be trying to think up an excuse.

"Um uh, I've got… _library_ duty all day." She said as an excuse _._

I knew it probably wasn't true, but considering how often I ask her to look after Jenna, I let it slide this time.

 _No's all around._

"Why not ask Alex? He's decent enough with the sport." Jaclyn suggested.

Then Jack snapped his fingers to get out attention and signed; 'He chose to help Lignum clean up his shop.'

I sighed again.

 _Great, just me, Trouble, and the two antisocial Hunters. Oh yeah, this is gonna turn out great._

The Hunter pair came back after that and said they were ready to go, I nodded and glanced back at my _loyal_ friends.

"Guess I'll see you all later then." I said as I walked off to start what was bound to be a very interesting day.

 **Next – Ch. 14** : Recovery


	14. Recovery

**Orphans of Legends**

 **Ch.14 -** Recovery

 **Faith POV**

 _Well at least the food is good._ I thought as I followed Thalia and Thaddeus to wherever the archery ranges were while walking along side Thaddeus's horse as she wheeled a cart full of equipment for repairing the ranges.

Jenna was sitting atop the horse without a saddle, talking jabbering about her favorite music from the movie: The Greatest Showman, and occasionally singing lines from 'This is Me'.

 _Oh course she'd love that song._

While I was trying to listen along the way, I was also trying to take in all there was to see here.

The idea of there being another place like the two camps was kinda crazy; from what Thalia had told me so far, the people who come here aren't welcome at the camps on account of their heritage.

 _Does that mean some of these kids aren't even demi-gods, but something else? Children of the Titans? Or even more unique creatures?_

I glanced up at the young girl beside me, who was still humming along to the song.

 _She doesn't look any different, but I wonder what she would be called?_

The whole system of Godly parents claiming their kids was not something I was too familiar with since such a thing wasn't needed in the Hunt.

I didn't even know who my own mother was; Lady Artemis once said that I remind her of someone she'd met only a few times, but said it was best if I not put too much thought into it.

" _The Hunt does not judge its members based on parentage, only of who_ you _are; nothing more, nothing less."_ That's what she said to me the first time I asked if she knew.

Since then, I never really put much more thought into the subject.

Being in the hunt had its way of making sure you were distracted with constantly improving your skills and abilities that you didn't focus too much on personal matters.

Which I didn't mind too much, it kept my mind off of the… _accident_ , and the nightmares that came from it.

Getting back to now, I will say that this place was amazing.

I had only been to Camp Half Blood once before for a few nights stay and didn't have much of a chance to look around.

The girls all told me that it wasn't too bad most of the time, except for the fact that it didn't have enough gender dividing rules like private cabins for the girls.

Which would make sense; to have a camp full of teenagers going through their puberty stages and being packed into close quarters with others just like them _(especially of the opposite sex)_ would no doubt lead to difficulties when it came to rule following and personal boundaries _._

But compared to what little of it I did see, this _Ranch_ was far bigger and less crowded.

The people were not as friendly or inviting as Camp was, but that might've had something to do with Thalia and I being _uninvited_ guests here.

The group we ate breakfast with seemed nice enough, if not a little odd.

The guy who asked us to help Thaddeus out, ( _Actaeon was it_?) was a bit on the odd side too.

Thalia said he was the Ranches Marshal, which she compared to Chiron's position. But he kinda look like a wild west cowboy like you'd see in those old movies.

"Hey Faith?" Jenna said, making me turn up to look at her.

"Where are you from?" she asked, her eyes filled with curiosity that you could only find in a child.

"I live with a Goddess called Artemis and her Hunters; we travel all over the place." I answered, doubting the toddler would be any more thorough.

"What's it like?" she asked, proving me wrong.

"It's fun, we camp out in the woods all the time, chase down big monsters so they don't hurt others, and live for a very, very, _very_ long time." I answered again.

" _How_ long?" she asked once again.

 _Uh oh, I think I might be caught in a loop of never-ending questions that little kids tend to create._

"As long as you can imagine." I said in return.

I was finding it difficult to dumb down my answers so that she can understand.

"Wow, that's too long! Don't you get board?" she asked again.

 _For a five-year-old, she asks a lot of questions._

"Yeah, sometimes." I admitted truthfully, looking ahead for a moment in thought.

The Hunt really has been an amazing experience, but I could never feel like I…

 _No, now is not the time for that kind of thinking._

I decided to try and turn the conversation around.

Here was this little girl asking me questions left and right about me, but I barely know anything about her.

"What about you Jenna, where do you come from?" I asked, and she seemed to think about it for a while.

"I live with Thady." She said in a proud manner.

"Are you his sister?" I asked.

"Um…" she seemed to hesitate on that, as if she was unsure about what she was to Thaddeus.

"I dunno." She said, shrugging as she looked ahead, losing interest in the conversation.

 _Well it's not that complicated of a question. Is it?_

"We're here." I heard Thaddeus say from ahead before I could ask anything more.

I looked and saw a large dirt circle in the center of a ring of five ranges that all pointed outward in various directions.

"We'll be using field three." He added pointing to the one in the center.

 _The center ring must be for close combat training?_ I thought as we walked around it on a trail in-between it and the ranges.

We entered the pavilion for the third range, Thaddeus instructed us where to set up as he tied his horse up.

Really it wasn't any different then setting up our makeshift ranges wherever we chose to camp.

Pretty much just set the targets up, put arrows in each shooters box, make sure there's a first aid kit at the ready (because when do demigods _not_ need one of those?)

When Thaddeus came back around, he was carrying a bag of tools and such, setting them down next to the bleachers for later.

"So… do you want us to help coach when they get here?" Thalia asked.

He took a second to think on it before answering.

"Only if you want to. I honestly don't know what Actaeon was thinking when he asked you to help out, but if you feel comfortable with doing it, be my guest." He said.

"Um, I'm not much of the ' _teaching'_ type. So, I'll just watch." I said, not willing to admit that archery is not my best skill.

 _Not that I have one in particular_.

"I guess I'll hop in if I see someone who needs a little work." Thalia said and Thaddeus simply nodded and started to test the various bows that where going to be used, making sure they all worked properly.

"They'll be about a dozen or so coming and going from here to other activities." Thaddeus said while moving various things here and there.

"Other activities?" I asked.

"Yeah, we've got a couple others going on too. There's rough riding, swimming, rock climbing, close combat." He rambled.

"Close combat? Like weapons training with swords and spears?" Thalia asked a little too enthusiastically.

 _I swear I saw a spark flash in her eyes._

"Yes… why does that look on your face give me a cold chill?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

I couldn't help but smirk, but I did my best to not let Thalia notice it.

"Can't a girl not have a hobby." She admitted with a sly smile on her face and a shrug with her shoulders.

"Pfft, sure. You're welcome to go over and show off if you want." He said.

Before she could respond, a group of just over half a dozen walked in. Some were chatting with each other, but most seemed to be keeping to themselves.

Once they noticed Thalia and I were there, they all stopped talking and stared at us. Probably not expecting us to be here.

The moment seemed to last for what felt like hours in silence.

" _Achoo_!" a small voice broke through.

We all turned and saw Jenna sniffling and wiping her nose with her hand.

I can't speak for everyone else, but I laughed a little on the inside and took out a napkin I took from breakfast and gave it to her to blow her nose.

I noticed Thaddeus also had a small bundle of tissues in his hand but put them back in his pocket seeing that I had beat him to it and gave me an appreciative nod.

The mood of the group had changed to a slightly less awkward aura as the tension had been broken thanks to the intervention of a little girls' allergies.

Thaddeus cleared his throat to get the attention.

"Okay, now that you guys are here, we can start. Grab a bow that feels good, then head up to the line. If this is your first time, hold up and I'll talk you through it. Do _NOT_ draw an arrow till I give you the okay to. Got it?" they all nodded. "Alright, have at it."

By this time, I had chosen to sit next to Jenna as she began coloring in a coloring book of some Disney movie.

Thalia was watching the other kids test out their bows.

Mostly everyone went over and picked up a bow, but a few remained who looked younger and were shifting uncomfortably.

They kinda looked like I did the first few weeks I was in the Hunt.

 _These kids must have recently arrived here._ I thought as I saw Thaddeus walk up to them.

"Let's see who we have here... Wait! Don't tell me, I can get this." He said and scrunched his brows in concentration.

"Miley." He pointed to a girl with short and curly brown hair that had a big red bow in the back, and she gave a nervous smile and nodded.

"Bryce." The boy smirked and nodded too, looking rather proud of himself for some reason.

He had very short hair that looked black but could be brown if he grew it out. He smiled and showed he had some of his teeth missing.

"And… Linda." This one didn't seem happy at all to be noticed; in fact, she kept her eyes on her feet, avoiding eye contact with him.

She had shoulder length black hair that had traces of curls in them but hadn't been worked on for a long time.

"Is something wrong? I didn't mess up your name, did I?" Thaddeus asked, with a nervous expression as he kneeled down to the girl's eye level.

She backed away shyly at the action and continued to look away from him, she couldn't have been older than eight.

Thaddeus sighed as if he was familiar with this type of reaction and from the way he was looking, he was trying to come up with a way to help her.

Seeing an opportunity, I got up and walked over.

 _Hunters deal with girls like this all the time, myself included._

I stopped next to Thaddeus and tapped his shoulder making him look up at me.

"Why don't you get the other two ready, I'll talk to her." I said, hoping he would trust me enough.

He thought for a moment, then nodded and turned to the other two newbies.

"Alright, either of you two ever held a bow before?" he asked as they walked off with the kids in tow.

I turned back and looked at the girl below me. She still seemed nervous and didn't show me her eyes.

Her arms were in front of her, playing with the hem of her shirt.

I sat down in front of her, crossing my legs so that I would be lower than her and she'd have to look down at me. 

"Hi there, my names Faith. What's yours?" I asked in the kindest tone I could manage.

She still didn't say anything and continued playing with the end of her shirt.

 _Hm… how should I deal with you?_ I thought then an idea hit me and I glanced back.

"Hey Jenna, can you come over here for a minute." Jenna looked up and smiled happily, hopping down from her seat and came over to us, sitting down on my lap without even questioning if it was okay (which it certainly was for me).

I whispered to her, telling her my plan (or at least her part in it). When I finished, she smiled even more and nodded her head vigorously.

She got up and stood in front of the shy girl. In terms of age and size, Jenna was younger than her by maybe three years and stood a few inches shorter.

"Hi!" Jenna said while waving even though they were only two feet away from each other.

For the first time, the girl looked up from her feet and I saw a pair of blue eyes; but they looked as if they had seen too much for one that was so little.

She looked Jenna over for a minute, keeping a blank face on.

 _Come on, give me something, a nod, a hello, or even a…_ , the nervous girl then gave Jenna a low wave with her hand that still stayed by her shirt.

But it was still a reaction.

 _Bingo_.

"My names Jenna! That's J, E, N…N…um." Jenna lost herself in trying to spell her name.

" _A_?" I heard a little whisper of a voice come from the girl who was acting like she hadn't said anything at all.

"Yeah, that one! Who are you?" Jenna asked.

"Um…I-I'm Linda." The girl responded, still in a whisper. Her body was now shuffling a little showing her nervousness.

"You like drawing?" Jenna asked and Linda's face brightened, if only slightly.

"Yes… I love drawing… and painting." She said, a smile worming her way onto her face.

Jenna then quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the bench without so much as a warning or interest in whether Linda wanted to go or not.

But Linda simply let her drag her over while looking confused, probably not used to Jenna's straight forwardness.

When they got to the table, Jenna began to show her all her different drawings and even a few she hadn't finished yet.

Linda took interest in all of them, finally beginning to show a smile.

After seeming to be forgotten by the two, I stood up and looked back to see Thaddeus had brought everyone else on the line and they were all shooting arrows at their respective targets.

He went from person to person, watching and then advising, looking really into it.

After he finished with one of the new kids, he glanced back and saw Jenna and Linda looking through her coloring book.

Then he looked at me and gave me a knowing smirk, nodding his head in approval.

I smiled and nodded back before he returned to his class.

"Nice work Faith." I heard Thalia say as she walked next to me.

"Thanks, I like working with kids like that." I admitted.

Thalia nodded, but stared at me a moment longer, then smirked at something she must have thought.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all. I think I'm going to go check out that close-combat arena and see if anyone is up for taking me on." She said as she walked around me towards the end of the pavilion.

"You sure that's a good idea? These guys seem kinda nervous enough as it is around us." I pointed out.

"I promise not to hurt them too badly, alright. See ya." She said, then rounded the corner and was gone.

But I swore I saw that glint she gets before she spares with Artemis sometimes.

She was excited.

 _Oh, I've got a bad feeling about this._

 **LINEBREAK – 1**

 **Thalia POV**

Nobody likes a good old-fashioned fight these days.

Today it's all about non-aggression, peaceful resolutions, and make love not war ( _thought that fraise died in the 80's or something_ ).

Personally, I can't stand people who say they don't like to fight.

They're basically saying I could impale them with my spear, and they would do nothing to stop me!

 _Idiots, the lot of em._

Fighting is good for the soul.

You get to let out some pent-up aggression that you build up from work, marriage, family, world conquering monsters obsessed with digesting you, the excuses go on and on.

Now that doesn't mean I don't get people who don't want to fight.

For some, there comes a point when you get tired of fighting. Most of my old buddies from the good old days are like that. All of them had their fair share of fighting (some more than others).

But me… _nah_.

I've still got plenty of fight left in me, I'm Thalia Grace! The Daughter of Zeus, lieutenant of Artemis, and one of the strongest demigods ever born.

I've got enough fight to last me another thousand years if I have to.

 _But I wonder if I could convince my lady to let me grow a little taller. Being stuck as a fifteen-year-old really gets old._

 _But then again, considering she prefers to be in the form of a twelve-year-old, I doubt she'll see it as a reasonable request._

I shook my head out of my own thoughts and brought myself back to the present.

I was making my way towards the center area that was in the middle of all the ranges.

There were now over a dozen other people there. Some were wearing armor like breast plates and grieves, but most simply had an assortment of weapons.

Some of their choices of weapons were…odd to say the least.

There were some Greek and Roman weapons and shields here and there. But there were also more different weapons.

There was one that looked like a pirate sword (whatever that is called), and another that looked like a combination of a spear and axe from some dark ages time or something.

There were also some other weapons that I knew would never work in a fight but were more for show and style than for effectiveness.

 _Where did they get these things from, a Final Fantasy Game or something?!_ I joked as I watched them attempt to swing and jab a few around.

Suddenly someone bumped into my shoulder as they walked by me. From the amount of force used, they were definitely aiming for my shoulder.

"Hey!" I shouted, forcing the person (who revealed themselves as a guy) to turn and give me a smug look.

"You got something to say to me?" I said with raised eyebrows.

If you present a chance for an apology and they don't give it to you, it gives you a good excuse for when you hit them _(can't say I didn't give them a chance right?)._

The guy looked to have a creamy skin tone with freckles and blond hair, he had the same kind of red bandana tied on his arm that that one guy from yesterday had that Alex called Clayton.

"What? You want something _outie_?" he asked smugly.

" _Outie_?" I said, giving the guy a 'what' look.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do I look like someone who watches baseball?" I snapped.

The annoying guy was about to answer but someone else beat him to it.

"Means _outsider_." A deep and haughty voice said behind me. I looked back and saw the familiar face of that Clayton guy from before.

His dead brown eyes borrowed into me, almost giving me a shiver. _Almost_.

"Catchy, come up with that yourself? Or did you find that in a dictionary?" I joked, sadly nobody laughed and just stared at me.

"Whatever, I'm just here looking for a good fight, you want to have a go?" I asked, never being one to beat around the bushes.

Clayton looked a little surprised from my question but smiled evilly anyway.

"You and me? You sure you don't want to call that dumb little _dog_ of yours to fight for you like last time?" he asked in an insulting tone.

 _Who was he talking abo… Oh... He must mean Alex._

"If it weren't for him being there last time, I would have done this then and there. But at least here we won't be interrupted. So, are you gonna fight me, or do I need to find someone who might know how to fight with something other than his mouth?" I taunted.

His grin turned serious at that.

"On the floor in ten, don't be late." He announced.

"Wouldn't miss it." I back talked, and he walked away, looking very arrogant and overconfident. The others in his group followed him and mimicked his look at me.

"We'll that's gonna be fun to watch." I heard a girl's voice behind me that hit me as snarky.

 _I know this voice already_. I thought.

I turned my head and saw Jaclyn leaning on the back of a bleacher with her arms folded and a spear leaning next to her.

"Don't let him fool you, he's a jerk, but he's pretty brutal in a fight." She said.

"Well then it'll be an easy win." I said, showing a little more confidence then I tend to do

( _What? I'm a daughter of Zeus, I gotta show a little over confidence every now and then)._

"Uh-huh, and what do you plan on using to fight him with? Your bare fists?" she asked.

 _Oh, and there lies the one flaw in my plan. No weapon…Damn._

I walked up to Jaclyn.

"I'm tempted to, but you wouldn't happen to know where I can find a good spear around here?" I asked.

She smirked at me, no doubt finding it amusing that a Hunter of Artemis is asking her for help.

"Sure, follow me." She said.

We walked to the other side of the fighting circle to where they had another wagon with a horse hooked to it.

The wagon had a variety of weapons in it and I automatically started searching for a spear that would fit me.

"Take your pick." Jaclyn said, unaware I had already started searching.

After a few minutes of looking like I was going though one of those big containers in Walmart that had $3.00 movies, I finally settled on an acceptable spear.

It was about six feet long with a wooden shaft and an imperial gold spear-head. My personal one was definitely better, but this will have to do.

I looked back to Jaclyn who seemed to be inspecting her own weapon, a seven foot single edged spear with an oddly curved head.

"What is that?" I asked her, pointing at her weapon.

"This? It's called a Sovnya, a medieval Russian spear, mainly used on horseback." She replied, seeming to be absorbed in her weapon even as she talked about it.

"Very… unique, I guess. You wouldn't happen to know how he fights, would you?" I asked.

She thought for a while then shrugged.

"He uses a chain mace and a small shield whenever I see him. He's usually a cautious fighter, waits to see what his opponent will do first." She said.

"A _chain mace._ Really?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, you know, long metal chain hooked to a stick on one end and a metal ball with spikes on the other. You see them a lot in those movies about the middle ages with castles and dragons and-"

"I know what a chain mace is, I just didn't know anyone was weird enough to use one." I said, getting in an open area and doing a few practice swings and stabs.

 _Mh, too light and not balanced enough; But it'll have to do._

"Hey, you ready?" Jaclyn asked and I nodded.

"Good, now I can go collect some bets, don't lose." She said with a mischievous smirk that Hermes would have applauded.

 _Such a great way to say good luck._

I then walked up in between the small bleachers, mostly everyone was now seated, and the noise quieted down when they saw me.

I felt like I was at some street fight arena, Jaclyn was walking around with a bucked spouting "Bets! Place your bets!"

Then I saw a group form directly across from me on the other side of the dirt arena. They all had one thing in common, each had a red bandana tied somewhere on their body.

 _Cute, a street gang in the middle of the woods. That's a new one._

From the middle of the group came the one and only Clayton…

 _Guess I'll get his last name later._

He wore a black Greek breastplate, underneath that was a rather tight looking grey tank top. His muscled dark arms were a mess of tattoos of things I could only venture a guess to what they were.

"You ready little girl?" Clayton boasted.

"Pfft, ha ha ha!" I couldn't help but find that fraise entertaining and worth a laugh.

Clayton seemed off put by my response.

"If only you knew how many times I've heard that one from monsters, gods, and even titans. And how many times I proved them wrong." I said with my special dark tone I reserved for fights like these.

When someone thought they were all big and tough, and they liked to show it every chance they got.

It's _men_ like this one that make me glad to be a member of Artemis's Hunt, it gives me a good excuse to kick some ass.

If my tale intimidated him at all, he didn't show it. But His face got even more serious than before and he walked further into the arena.

There was no referee or bell that rang for the start.

We both just began circling each other like two wolves trying to find an opening. I might not have any armor on, but I fight better without the extra weight.

Clayton began swinging his chain mace around, looking relaxed and ready for whatever I had. I grinned back but didn't do any twirls or tricks with my weapon; instead keeping it pointed at him.

Artemis had taught me that it's pointless to flaunt your pride around before you've earned the right to do it.

"One question?" I asked as we continued our orbits, he nodded for me to continue. "What do I get if I win?"

He snickered at that.

"If you win, you leave knowing _you_ won. If I win, I leave knowing _I_ won. Plain and simple." He said.

"Really? No humiliating bet or trophy?" I asked.

"Your loss and me getting to beat you down are rewarding enough to me." He answered.

 _Well at least he's straight forward and not overly complicated._

"Alright toughie." I said as we both stopped and struck a pose.

Mine was in a jabbing stance, while his looked like he was ready to swing or block at any moment.

"Bring It!" I yelled.

It was all stabbing and swinging from there. I couldn't say which of us started first, but I was determined to be that last standing.

He had a tight defense, using both his small shield to block my stabs and his mace to keep me at a distance, the thing had a reach of three or maybe four feet.

I tried using my agility to my advantage by staying in motion, never standing still, and relying on quick strikes.

We circled each other, the both of us daring the other to move in closer.

Clayton started twirling his chained mace around all cocky again with a matching smirk to go along with it.

 _Go ahead, keep smirking, so I can enjoy beating it off you._

Me having the longer reaching weapon, I tried jabbing at his legs, keeping him focused on defense.

 _The moment he gets to be on offense, I'm screwed without a shield of my own._

I couldn't risk going full on attack with him swinging that mace around, it would easily break my spear.

There was one trick that might work, but I've never used it on a wooden spear, and I doubt I have enough energy to pull off any more than one.

"What's wrong _, little girl_? Scared?" He taunted.

 _Did he seriously just call me that again!? Oh, that's it!_

Thunder began to rumble above causing mostly everyone to look up and see a lone, dark storm cloud that seemed to form out of nowhere and increase in size, blocking out the sun's light.

It probably looked extremely out of place in the clear blue sky that had only a few other white clouds in it.

It began to spin, with its center directly over the arena.

Clayton glanced up at it, not looking worried, but confused.

Lightning flashes began to appear in the clouds and the wind picked up all around the arena, causing the trees to shake and rattle.

The boy looked back down at me and seem to realize I was behind the phenomenon up above.

I smirked at his relaxation and gave him a look that said all I needed him to know; that he made a big mistake in fighting me.

Not knowing what I had planned, he took another defensive stance, allowing me to concentrate.

 _Hope my body is up for the jolt._ I thought, sending a small prayer to my dad for some support.

I then placed my feet and began a little showing off performance of my own.

Twirling the spear in my hands, making it move so fast it looked like I had a helicopter attached to my arm.

It was more than just for show, as I began focusing on my weapon and sparks from my body arched around me and onto my spear as it spun.

I could feel the tension in it as it struggled to hold itself together.

 _Got to time this right. Too soon and it will shatter, too late and it won't cause much damage._ I thought to myself as I eyed my opponent, searching for the right place to aim.

He had his shield facing me and his chain mace to the side, ready to deflect.

 _He knows I'm going to use my spear, and he's ready to either take it up front or hit it away. He's smart, still an ass hole, but smart. Reminds me of Clarisse._

After another few moments that seemed to last forever with me still spinning my spear, I decided it was as ready as it will ever be and swung it around my body one last time, electricity pouncing off it onto the ground as it did and I stopped it with my body posed for a charge.

I aimed and launched myself with my spear pointed at him, heading right for his center mass, the wind blowing forward with me, giving me extra speed and sending the dust around me up in a frenzy.

Clayton brought his shield up, deciding to let the shield take the hit.

Right before it made its mark, a bolt of lightning boomed in the center of the swirling cloud and struck down at my spears head as it hit the shield creating quite the explosion.

The shockwave had knocked everyone around the arena off their feet with myself included.

I landed on my back, feeling beat from the effort.

Sweat ran down my forehead as I picked myself up from the ground.

For what felt like minutes flashing by, nothing happened save for the wind dying down and the cloud beginning to dissipate.

I still stood close to where I was before, with drag marks in front of my feet from the force of the shockwave.

A glint to my right drew my eyes over and I saw what was left of my spearhead sticking in the dirt and steaming from the amount of power that went through it.

It had half of its blade melted off, and what was left was attached to a hand size remainder of the wooden shaft.

 _Guess I was right, only one time usage._

I heard coughing from around the arena ring, as everyone picked themselves off the ground.

I saw Claytons group off to the right and most had a look of disbelief or worry.

"Clayton!" one of them called out, sounding like a girl's voice.

I looked at where he had been before, a cloud of smoke still hung around, hiding whatever was left inside.

For a moment, I thought I might have overdone it with the power, but I wasn't too guilt struck from it.

 _The guy was a jerk and had a beating coming_.

Then I heard a loud set of coughs from the clouds center.

 _Huh, still alive... I guess that's sort of a relief._ I thought as the dust settled and I finally saw him.

He was on his hands and knees, his shield seemed to be shattered with only a small fragment remaining on his arm.

 _Cough, cough!_ "Ah…that" _cough "_ …was a nice move. I didn't see it coming." He said taking some heavy breaths as he brought a leg forward so that he was kneeling.

"I gotta say; I didn't expect you to still be able to move after that, your tougher than I thought." I exclaimed.

We both had sweat falling off out heads, me from the effort of calling lightning ( _not as easy as it sounds_ ) and him from taking it head on.

He eventually broke the stare to look around and grabbed something from behind, bringing it around and I saw that it was his… _seriously?_

 _Why couldn't the chain mace have been blown away too._ I thought as I saw Clayton holding what was left of it.

About two feet of chain with the spiked ball on the end.

I reached down and grabbed the spear head and we both got up and readied ourselves for round two.

Neither of us were willing to accept the other winning. We both started running at each other till we were only a few more steps from colliding.

"HOLD!" A voice yelled out, overpowering my focus.

Both of us skited to a halt then didn't move, keeping our weapons ready, but we glanced to the side to see who interrupted our _friendly_ match.

The crowd had parted to allow a middle-aged man to get through.

He had a hard-looking face with smile creases edged into it.

He had frizzy golden hair on his head and beard that resembled wood shavings and light brown eyes.

He wore a white apron that looked to have a layer of golden dust and there were various pencils and weirdly shaped knives in his pockets.

A pair of folded clear safety glasses hung from his aprons neck line.

Underneath, he had a long sleeve black shirt and a pair of tan work pants, both looking like they were covered in gold dusk and wood shavings.

He kind of looked like Leo Valdez, just with less grease and without the dark elvish looking face.

"I do believe that you both have had quite enough of one another. And by the looks of it, this match is a draw. So, if you both would be so kind as to remove both of your sharp weapons away from each other, we can allow this activity to continue normally." He said in a voice that, while slightly gurgled, was still firm in tone.

We both looked at each other, Clayton looking as annoyed as I did for the result of the fight.

After another moment of glaring, we both backed apart.

I glanced down at what was left of my spear and it could barely count as even a dagger.

Clayton lifted up what was left of his chain that was attached to the spiked ball, looking at it like he was eyeing a dog's half eaten chew toy.

"Mgh, next time, we settle this." Clayton said.

"I'll be waiting." I growled back, but he didn't seem to be intimidated by it and just walked/limped out, parts of what was left of his armor still hung on his body and smoldered from the lightning.

His friends came over and helped him out, a few of them (especially that girl from before) gave me one last glare before they left.

 _Next time for sure._

"That was quite dramatic now wasn't it?" A voice to my right said and made me jump.

I looked over and it was that man again, standing with his hands behind his back with an observant look.

 _When did he get there? And how did I not notice._

"But any who, it was still a very entertaining match. That one move with the lightning; _magnificent_!" he said with a thumbs up.

Looking closer, I saw that his irises were not simply light brown, but they looked to have a wood pattern to them, almost as if his eyes were wood and he just carved them out and painted the outside white.

 _Not the weirdest pair of eyes I've seen._

"Um, thanks?" I said back and then looked down at the remains of my spear.

The power of the lightning was too much for it, my personal spear could have gone through ten of those things and still come out fully intact.

 _Oh well, it was better than nothing, I guess._

I noticed that Alex had walked by too but remained quiet.

"Hey big shot." I said to him, causing him to glare at me which I expected.

Then I remembered what Clayton had called him and I began to wish I had defended him a little back there instead of focusing more on starting the fight.

"Please don't call me that." He asked flatly.

"Yeah, sure." I said while waving it off.

He may be odd, but he still stood up for me (as unnecessary as it was).

"So, who in this endless stream of odd balls are you?" I asked the wooden eyed man, trying to move on from my guilt; the man's smile seemed to increase tenfold.

"Glad you asked!" he said with a snap of his finger and his index pointed at me.

"The name is Lignum, they call me Old Oak around here, and I'm in charge of construction and woodworking classes. Pleasure to finally meet you." He said enthusiastically with a shining smile on that was one of the most genuine I'd ever seen and struck his hand out.

I remembered Actaeon had mentioned his name the other day when I had woken up, but I hadn't given it much thought.

"Yeah, I'm Thalia… nice to meet you." I said, still a little tense from the guys introduction, and took his hand which he shook rather vigorously with a tight grip.

Then he looked down at my other hand.

"Mind if I take a look at that?" he asked, pointing to the broken spearhead I was still holding. I shrugged and gave it to him.

He took it and brought it up close to his face, looking it over and even took out a small magnifying glass that looked really old with gold around it and didn't have a handle.

Like the kind people who work at a diamond shop might use (or maybe a prospector in the 1800s's).

He didn't really focus on the metal part, but on what was left of the wooden handle.

"Hmmm. Oak wood, hundred and ninety-two years old, cut and carved four years plus… two months ago from the eastern forest of the valley by a junior Rancher, was probably well balanced for throwing, not parlaying. And definitely not for shooting a couple thousand volts of electricity through it." He finished with a grin as he dangled the spear head.

"I imagine you prefer something that's a little more… _durable_?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and he made me feel like I had just gotten lectured by a school art teacher.

"Um, yeah. Sorry if it was special or something, it was the only thing I could find." I said, but he waved me off.

"Nothing to feel sorry for Huntress, I just have a habit of personifying works that come out of my shop, no matter how small or simple." He said, still wearing his smile.

Then I noticed it, that faint but recognizable feeling that I only feel when I'm on Olympus, or somewhere when in the presence of…

"You're a god, aren't you?" I asked.

 **LINE BREAK – 2**

 **Faith POV**

Thalia had been gone a long time, and that had me worried.

Not for Thalia herself mind you, I was more worried about how much trouble she might be getting into right now.

She may not notice it, but trouble seems to follow her in some form or fashion wherever she goes.

Either she _is_ the trouble, or trouble is where she's going.

The older Hunters say that she's always been like that.

It comes with being a daughter of the king. But I was still worried anyway.

 _Especially with that the sounds of thunder and that wind from only a few minutes ago._

I was sitting next to Jenna and Linda as they were coloring different pictures from Jenna's book.

The two had quickly become very good together and I would bet that they would become close friends.

twangs and whistling of the bows and arrows on the range had been continuing on and off for a while, they only stopped when everyone had run out of arrows and they had to walk down to get them.

I was actually starting to feel more relaxed.

This reminded me of my many days in the Hunt, while everyone was off shooting and practicing, I simply either watched or did some other tasks like chores or learning/practicing some skills.

Like I said, archery was not my cup of tea.

I was good enough to get by, but nothing special like the majority of the Hunt is.

I looked over to Thaddeus as he was critiquing a young girl, she seemed to have a slight blush to her as he used his body as a platform for her to copy.

He stood in front of her with his hands rested on her own as she gripped the bow and notched arrow.

He didn't seem to notice the girl's reactions and was focusing on her form.

 _He strikes me as someone who spent too much time alone practicing._ I thought as I tried to listen to his instructing.

"Take a few deep breaths at this point, once you decide to draw back, begin inhaling at the same speed of your draw. By the time you reach as far as you can when pulling back, you should start exhaling; in the instant you begin to run out of breath, plant your target and release." He said after he demonstrated each task as he said it, the girls body going along with his movement like a puppet.

"Remember not to jerk your fingers away from the string, slowly release it. Otherwise you'll throw off your aim, it should be a surprise when you do it." He added then stepped back from her.

"Now try a few times and see how you do." He suggested.

"B-but how will I know if I did it right?" the girl asked.

"Well… if you hit the target, then it would be good to say it works." He said in a joking tone that the girl puffed her cheek at.

"Ha… sorry. Just trying to joke. Really it's up to you, try the technique, and if it doesn't work, try changing it up based on how you think you need to." The girl just looked confused.

"Why can't you just tell me when I do it right?" she asked.

"Well that _could_ work, but archery can be a bit tricky. Your success is really based on how much _you_ think you are improving, not how much _I_ think. After-all, no one knows you better than you." The girl still looked confused, but her blush had returned yet again at his reasoning.

 _He does have a way with words, but they sort of sound like the kind of advice Artemis gave me once._

"Just trust me; try it a few times." He said and stepped back.

He looked along the line and saw everyone doing okay, then came over to me and the girls.

"You're an impressive teacher, but you tend to sound confusing." I said, and he chuckled.

"It's not like I _want_ to sound confusing, that's just how my teacher taught me." He said as he unzipped his pack and took out a granola bar.

"He sounds like he knew more about _what_ he was teaching than _how_ to teach it." I said and he laughed again.

"Yes, _she_ did." He said, giving me an amused look.

"I was taught by Atalanta." He finished, answering the question I was going to ask.

"Really? Well that answers how you sound so much like a Hunter when you teach this. You were practically taught by the best the Hunt ever had." I said.

He laughed again, but this one sounded sadder than before.

"I am _far_ from being a Hunter. I don't even go out and hunt during the seasons. I only teach this because I have a knack for it." He said as he turned and sat down on the end of the table.

"I didn't mean it that way. I… just thought it made sense." I said, not really knowing what else to say.

It sounded like venturing any farther into his reasons might not be smart.

For one: It was none of my business, we'd only met this morning, so I hardly qualified anything higher than an acquaintance.

Two: I didn't have a lot of expertise in the counseling department.

"You wanna have a go?" He asked suddenly, bring me out of my thoughts.

"Go where?" I asked without thinking and he chuckled at my response.

"On the line." He said, pointing with his water bottle at the firing line.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, I'm good." I said, shaking my hands to emphasize my desire to not do it.

"I thought all Hunters of Artemis outmatched anyone is at archery, even kids of Apollo?" Thaddeus said in a challenging tone.

"W-well they do. But I just happen to not be in the mood!" I said, struggling to hold up the charade that I was making.

"Well then prove it, _Hunter_." He said, standing and offering me a bow he grabbed from off to the side.

For a moment, I was tempted to take it, even if I might not be the best at it, I still tend to hit a good score during practice.

But the moment of confidence came and went in a flash, and I was suddenly uncomfortable with the idea of holding another weapon again.

My head told me to ignore it, but I just couldn't shake this feeling.

"What's wrong?" Thaddeus asked.

"…I can't take it." I admitted.

"Why?"

"I just… I…" I didn't know what to say.

 _Here I am, a Hunter of Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. Yet I don't even have the nerve to take a simple bow_.

"You don't think you can do it. Can you?" He said in a low and soft voice.

I hesitantly nodded, and continued to look at my feet in shame. I heard him sigh and saw his shoes bend as he squatted down in front of me.

"Look, I'm not going to pretend to know you or what you went through, but I am going to say that you've still got some fight in you." He said.

"Pfft… And what makes you think that?!" I bellowed.

"Cause I saw you fight your way off that werewolf in the clearing. Sliced his hand clean off while he had you face down in the dirt. If that's no sign of having some fight, I don't know what is." He said, and once again I was brought back into my memories that hadn't recovered yet.

I remembered the taste of iron in my mouth and the cold feeling of the hard dirt on my face.

The feeling of a hand coiled around my neck from behind, making my breathing sluggish.

And the sound of a man screaming as I trusted my instincts and sliced blindly behind me.

 _I didn't even know I could still fight after all that. I wonder if that_ voice _had something to do with it._ I thought, after remembering the scene over and over in my mind.

"Now." He got up and reached into his pack.

"I've had my fair share of near-death experiences, the only things that kept me going were my friends… and family of course." He said glancing towards Jenna, and then stood in front of me again.

"Them, and a lot of time here, practicing and challenging myself with the best _weapons_ in my hands." He said, and I got the feeling that there was something right in front of me.

I looked up and what I saw caught my breath.

Thaddeus was holding out my Hunter's dagger, the same one that I used to kill one werewolf and wound another.

It looked to be cleaned and freshly sharpened, somehow glistening in low light.

"I'm not going to tell you what you should do, but I will say that whatever it is, try not to go through it all on your own. I tried it once, didn't work." He said with a smirk, extending his arm, urging me to take the knife.

I stared for a few seconds longer, processing everything that he had just told me.

 _Why am I hesitating, it's just a knife?_

The same one that I used to hurt and kill, but still just a knife all the same _._

 _My actions were more than justified and I shouldn't grieve over them._

But a part of me still felt this sense in the back of my mind, an uncomfortableness towards my very own weapon and the idea of fighting with it again.

I knew I'd have to eventually; I was a demigod after all. Fighting is almost guaranteed in my life, whether I want it to or not.

 _Oh screw it!_

I grabbed the knife hilt from Thaddeus and gripped it tightly in my hand. It was just as I remembered it feels.

Light weight, yet stronger than any normal blade by far.

The sparkle on it seemed to shine brighter, as if it recognized me and was happy to be in my hands once again.

 _I've earned the right to use this, but Thaddeus is right on one thing; I can't get over myself without some help. Thalia is one option, but…_

I looked back up at Thaddeus as he still stood in front of me with his arms at his hips, looking rather satisfied with me.

 _Would he be willing…_

"Um…do you think that…maybe you could help me?" I asked nervously.

The Hunters are my friends, sisters practically, and have taught me a lot in my years with them.

But for some reason, I felt like Thaddeus was the right one to ask for help from.

He looked surprised for a seconded and cocked his head in thought.

 _Ha! He looks kinda cute when he does that, like a dog who's confused._

About a minute went by with him still thinking before he looked back at me.

"Alright..." He said nodding his head.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot. Just a warning though, I might have to be a little tough on you." He said with a questioning yet cocky face on.

"I'm a tough girl, I think I can manage." I shot back and we both shared a little laugh in the moment.

 _Let's hope I won't make a liar out of myself._

 **LINEBREAK – 3**

 **3** **rd** **Person POV**

Jack yawned for the third time since coming out to the gate for his guard duty shift.

This was the most boring job on the whole Ranch, tied closely with cleaning out the stables. But honestly, he didn't mind it.

It was quiet and uneventful most of the time. And it gave him plenty of time to read up on some literature.

He was currently halfway through Tom Clancy's Executive Orders novel that he'd been working on through the past month.

Then suddenly he heard a beeping sound and looked on the control board to see it was the signal for an incoming visitor through the tunnel.

Since the emergency alarm for both the entrance and traps remained silent, he guessed it was a Rancher returning.

 _That's odd, I don't remember hearing anything about any missions being sent out this week or before, could it be Scamander or Atalanta?_ Jack thought to himself.

He got his spear ready and walked out of the small shed that he was sitting in and stood just behind the gate.

The sounds of the giant door unlocking and squeaking as it opened echoed through the clearing of trees, the doors joints overdue for some lubricating.

From the pitch-black tunnel, a silhouette began to take shape and soon out limped a tired and messy looking Atalanta, with one of her arms clutching her opposite side and half of her face was covered in a bruise.

While normally she doesn't often look like the cleanest of goddesses, she now looked like she had a wrestling match with a gorilla and from her expression, hadn't won.

Her dark blond hair had dirt and mud stains in it and her outfit had tears and stains all over it, some with distinct shades of red that Jack could only imagine where they had come from.

In truth, she was just a little beat up and exhausted, nothing a little ambrosia, a hot bath, and rest couldn't cure (at least that's that she thought).

But she needed to see the other elders soon to relay the findings of her mission, and her concerns she had for both the Hunters and the Ranch.

Jack, obviously, would have called out if he could've; but all he could manage was a gasp and quickly ran into the shed to hit the 'HELP' button that would tell the Box that he needed some fast support.

He grabbed a first aid kit and ran out to meet the goddess as she slumped against the open door to prevent herself from falling.

She was clutching her side in pain, not bleeding out but feeling like she had a few new broken ribs.

She looked up and was relieved to see Jack taking out a square of ambrosia that she had just thought of needing.

He made eye contact with her and asked if she was alright in sign. "Yes, I'm okay, for the most part." she said as he handed her the square.

She hummed in relief as the healing warmth of the godly food made its way through her. She visibly looked to be better in just seconds.

Jack signed 'What happened to you?'

"It's a long story, but right now I need you to go and gather the other elders, we have much to talk about." Atalanta responded, trying to stand on her own, but keeping a hand on the door for support.

'Not until help gets here, then I'll go' Jack signed back with a determined look on underneath his blue glasses.

"Ha, ha." Atalanta laughed at her student's stubbornness. Jack had always been a team player through and through.

"Your concern is well appreciated my cub." She said to him, then leaned back against the door, taking the time to finally catch her breath and steady herself after her long and exhausting journey.

 _They are definitely not going to like what I have to say. And what am I going to tell those two Hunters?_ Atalanta thought to herself; annoyed, saddened, and very frustrated with herself.

Despite all of her skills and years of experience, she had failed.

 **A/N – And thus completes my rewrite. Apologies again for the long wait, but worry not, added along with this rewrite is a new chapter fresh off the grill.**

 **I'll try to pour the chapters out regularly now that I've shrunk them down to around five to seven thousand words each.**

 **Currently my personal career has taken me rather… far from home for the next year or so. But I should still have time to post when I can.**

 **Enjoy the next Chapter!**

 **Next – Ch.** 15: Awaited Return


	15. Awaited Return

**Orphans of Legends**

 **CH.15 –** Awaited Return

 **Faith POV**

"So, where do we start?" I asked Thaddeus.

"Start what?" he asked back off handedly as he was repairing one of the old targets that had been weathered to the point where the markings on it were so faded away, you'd have to look closely at it to even notice them.

We were both still at Range Three; the number of people had now died down considerably, so Thaddeus had taken the opportunity to do some of the repairs that he said the range needed.

The only people here now were a few Ranchers who'd already received some of Thaddeus's lessons and were now practicing on their own.

I admired his dedication to the work, but his memory could use a little fixing too.

"Um… the whole; 'you'll help me out thing'." I clarified.

"Oh… right, sorry." He admitted, putting the target down and dawned a look of contemplation.

"Let's see, well… what is it you think is holding you back?" he asked.

"Holding me back? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well… you don't feel confident in your own fighting skills, right?" he asked.

"I… didn't say that exactly." I said I return; I couldn't help but feel embarrassed at even having to have this conversation.

"Hmmmmm?" He hummed, crossing his legs and folding his arms expectantly.

"Look. It's not that I don't feel confident in my skills as a fighter. It's just…" This wasn't something that was easy to explain.

Even if I asked him to help me, I wasn't expecting him to want to simply _talk_ about this.

 _Though, I didn't exactly know what to expect when I asked in the first place._

"You know we don't have to discuss this now. It's not like you're going anywhere." He said with an understanding smile.

I guess he was right. Thalia and I were still recovering, and she said that we should wait until Atalanta gets back to decide our next move.

But I would prefer to fix my little _problem_ before Thalia, or the rest of the Hunt got wind of it.

 _The last thing I want is the lieutenant of the Hunt knowing I'm not battle ready._

"Yeah, sure…" I said, taking a seat on the bleachers with my head slumped in my hand.

 _Useless..._

Feeling useless was something that I despised.

Being useful has been one of the only things that's kept my head straight these last two years.

Sure, I didn't really like the _hunting_ part of the hunt, but I still made the best out of it.

I learned skills and traits that made me an asset to the group.

Tracking, cooking, navigation; all things I tried my hardest to master and retain so that the Hunt would have a need of me in some form at least.

But there were times when I thought Artemis would force me into her ways. Yet, she never even brought the subject up.

She supported me and taught me whatever I asked, never going beyond recommending I learn the primary skills of the Hunt.

Even the rest of the Hunters didn't push me too much. They stuck by me and picked me up when I fell.

 _I think that's what finally got me to start thinking of the Hunt as my home, as a family._

"Hey." Thaddeus said, drawing my attention back from my thoughts.

"Where's Thalia?" He asked.

"She left a while ago, said she wanted to tryout sparring." I said.

"Oh… should I be worried?" He asked, glancing out to the pavilions entrance/exit.

"I don't think so; she isn't the lieutenant of the Hunt for nothing. She can take care of herself." I said confidently.

"It's not _her_ I'm worried about." He said getting up. "Can you do me a favor and watch Jenna for a few minutes while I go _assess_ the damage?"

"Uh… sure. Is there a problem?" I asked as he walked around me.

"If there isn't one, I'd be surprised." He said putting his coyote tan baseball cap on and left.

 _I wonder what he meant by that. Maybe I should follow him._

Before I could move on that thought, a tug on my shirt stop me and I looked back to see Jenna standing next to me, she looked as excited as she always does.

"Come on! Come on! I wanna show you what Linda made!" she said, tugging me on with her and I couldn't help but go or risk a torn shirt.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming." I reassured her.

She kept pulling me till we reached the table where the two girls had been drawing.

Linda was sitting there awkwardly watching as Jenna dragged me over.

The table was covered with crayons and pencils of various colors.

There were a lot more coloring books spread across the table that all looked to be partially started.

"Look! Look! She's ama- amaz- um… really cool!" Jenna said (or tried to), pointing towards a paper book that Linda had right in front of her.

Before I could get so much as a glance at it, Linda panikely covered it up.

"Hey? Why'd you hide it?" Jenna asked, but Linda didn't answer.

Her cheeks were red with embarrassment as she looked away, apparently not prepared to share what she drew.

"It…it isn't... ready." She spoke, but it was in a very hushed tone like she only wanted Jenna to know but I still heard it anyway.

"That's alright, you don't have to show me right now, but I would love to see it when your finished." I said in an attempt to relax her.

"Awww, but it looks so good right now." Jenna complained.

"Then it'll look even better when it's done, right?" I asked Linda who, still with a red face, nodded.

"Mmmgh." Jenna pouted softly but didn't argue any more and simply took a seat next to Linda and continued on one of her own coloring books.

There followed an awkward silence where I didn't know what to do; Thaddeus had gone off to look for Thalia and I didn't really feel comfortable walking around on my own.

Eventually I decided to sit on the other side of Jenna opposite of Linda and at least pass the time with her until either of them comes back.

"Can I draw with you guys?" I asked after sitting down.

"Sure!" Jenna yelled, and Linda just nodded her head a little. But I did see a small trace of a smile.

We spent the rest of our time sharing our finished work. But honestly, I wasn't much for artwork.

 _I wonder… what_ is _Thalia's up to?_

 **LINEBREAK – 1**

 **Thalia POV**

Gods are very confusing.

Now bare in mind I've met my fair share of odd deities in my life, and this guy didn't rank high on my scale of oddness.

But the fact that it took me so long to figure out he was a god, even though he was just a few feet away from me meant he was either really good at acting mortal, or his power was simply too small for me to notice.

"Why yes, most accurate of you to notice. Most people don't have such keen skills of observation." The god, Lignum, said after I had pointed the fact out loud.

Before I could get another word in, a camper-no, _rancher_ came up and asked us to clear the arena so others could practice.

 _This place still reminds me so much of Camp Half-Blood._

"Sure thing, sorry for holding you all up." Lignum said, then turned back to me. "Why don't we continue this while we walk, hm?"

"Ah… sure." I said back.

As we left the arena, I spotted Clayton one more time.

He was sitting on the bleachers, hunched over and eating a gold brick of ambrosia.

He spotted me and we shared a cold yet acknowledging nod.

 _He may be a piece of work, but he's a half decent fighter._ I thought before focusing back on the odd deity.

Lignum led me onto a wood-chip trail through the woods. I made sure to remember which direction we were headed so I could find my way back for Faith.

"So… how does it look?" he asked, still looking forward but arced his ear back a little to listen.

"How does what look?" I answered.

"The Ranch of course! I know it isn't Half-Blood or Jupiter, but I'd like to think we have it pretty good here. And knowing you travel a lot, I'd guessed you've seen hundreds of other places of a similar fashion." He said.

"Y-yeah, but the only ones I can compare this place to are the camps." I stated.

"And the verdict?" he asked.

I waited a few seconds to think of the right wording.

"It's… _bigger_ , but it also feels smaller at the same time." I answered. "It's just there are so many more people at the camps."

"Hm, an honest assessment." Lignum said stopping as we reached the edge of a cliff that somehow seemed to overlook everything I've seen here so far.

The lake and the sports fields, the town, you could even see the fort off in the distance.

There was an old wooden railing at the edge of the cliff, but I still kept a good space away from the drop off, not wanting my acrophobia to kick in.

I could tell even this far from the edge that the cliff was at least fifty meters high.

 _That's_ _forty_ _meters too high for me._ I thought, my fear of heights still a struggle for me even after all these years.

"Like the view?" Lignum asked, making me look up at him.

He was still standing there with his hands together behind his back and his face smiling at me.

"I can't even begin to imagine how many times I find myself up here, just looking over everything. You know, at first all there was here was the fort and a giant hole in a mountain." He began.

"We were barely two dozen strong back then; our numbers have risen and fallen over the years, but the one thing that has always stuck was the beauty of it all." He said, gazing over the view as if he was entranced.

I couldn't help but agree with him. Even Half-Blood couldn't compete with this place when it came to natural beauty.

"What will you do now Huntress?" He asked; he was still looking over the view, as if the question wasn't as important, but I could hear an edge to the voice. He was nervous to ask.

"Well, my first priority is the safety of my Hunters, anything else can wait till then." I said.

In truth, that's about all I could focus on, everything else was still over my head.

This Ranch, and the people that live here are not really my problem.

What happens to them depends on when Olympus finds out, after that…

 _What would happen then?_

Dad was many things, but lenient wasn't one of them. And he definitely won't like the idea of there being something this big right under his nose.

"Hmh, that is just what I'd expect the lieutenant of Artemis to do; above all else, your Hunters come ahead, first and foremost." He said, then turned to me.

"Artemis chose well yet again." He said with a grin that screamed he knew more than I originally thought he did.

I tensed up a bit, no doubt my face looking a little confused.

"What do you know of Lady Artemis?" I asked, curious as to how he could talk about her with such a familiar tone.

He was a god, so they could have met numerous times before.

 _Immortality tends to be a forgetful thing for the gods, even Artemis._

"I know her enough to know that when she's made a decision, it's because she's confident in it. And I can assure you huntress, that you are everything she expects one of her followers to be; strong, dependable, and most importantly values her sisters." He said.

If this was any other time, I would have been flattered. But one: I don't like flattery, two: he didn't answer my question.

"Thanks for the compliments, but seriously; how do you know Artemis?" I asked.

"Oh… Lady Artemis and I go _way_ back, but that is a story I think she'd rather stay quiet, at least for now. Best to ask her yourself." He answered.

That's the second time I was told something like that. Actaeon also hinted that he and Artemis had a history.

With both of these odd guys and Atalanta, my lady was going to have quite a welcome mat if/when she gets here.

Before I could push for more, I heard footsteps behind me and saw Thaddeus coming up to join us, but Faith wasn't with him.

"So, I heard there were some fireworks at the arena earlier. Your handiwork?" he asked me, with a grin on his face.

"Yeah, I might have had a hand in it, but in my defense, I didn't start it, it was-"

"Clayton, yeah I heard you gave him a beating. I wouldn't worry about it, every now and then that guy needs a good kick in the ass." He said, making me grin a little.

"Language please Thaddeus!" Lignum said, giving him a stern look.

"Sorry Oak, just slipped out." He said back, but his grin remained.

"Where's Faith?" I asked.

"She's still at the range with Jenna, well… at least I hope she still is. Jenna does tends to run off from time to time." He said, but before I could ask for more, I heard more footsteps and saw another guy running up from the trail.

He looked to have a bulky upper body and was struggling to keep up the small light jog he was in to reach us.

"Jese Jorge, haven't seen you run that hard since-." Thaddeus started, but stopped at Jorge's words.

"She's back!" he shouted out, he seemed to drown out even the wind.

"Who?" he asked.

"Ata-" _huff_ , "Atalanta. She's finally back! She's talking with the elders right now, but Jack said she was injured." He said.

Before anyone could say anything else, I was already running.

I followed the trail and did my best to remember the way back to where I could only guess Atalanta was.

 _The infirmary._

I heard voices from behind me, but I didn't pay them any attention, all that mattered was getting to Atalanta and finding out what she knew.

 _Or better yet, who she brought back with her._

Anything else didn't even come close.

I passed various people, but I didn't pay them any attention. All that mattered was getting there, to the fort.

After what felt like an eternity of running and shoving people aside, I finally made it to the front gates of the fort. I had run so fast that my body forced me to stop and catch my breath.

Before I continued on, I noticed that there was another person huffing next to me. I looked and saw Thaddeus, sweaty and tired from running, but still there.

"Do all Hunters run as fast as you?!" he heaved out, wiping off sweat with his hat.

"Only the best." I claimed, then continued on through the gates, not even looking to see if Thaddeus was following, but I knew he was still there.

"Don't you want Faith here too?" he asked.

"… No. Not yet, not without being certain." I said over my shoulder.

 _No point in putting her hopes up where there might not be any._ I thought bitterly. The role of leadership must be getting too familiar to me.

I made a beeline for the infirmary. I was still getting a few looks from the Ranchers, but I paid them no attention.

Within a few minutes we were at the infirmary entrance and I busted through the door looking left and right for the goddess, but saw nothing.

"The far-left room." I heard Thaddeus, say as he passed by me.

I didn't know how he knew, but I didn't care; I quickly caught up with him.

As we neared the room, I overheard an argument inside, but the walls muffled the words too much.

We got to the door and entered only to see the very goddess I was looking for sitting on a bed, a cup of nectar in her hand with Actaeon and Jane standing over her.

Atalanta was almost just as I remembered her, if not the change of clothes and her being banged up a little.

Her hair was still as wild yet elegant as before, with those same high pointed cat ears.

But now in the light, I could see that her ears were slightly lighter in color then her brunette hair.

Her eyes were still the same familiar vibrant green that had consoled me that night in the clearing. But I still couldn't tell where I had seen those eyes before.

Her old hunting garb was replaced by a simple sleeveless buttoned tan shirt that looked like the sleeves were ripped right off and a pair of dark green work pants.

She had her right arm bandaged and in a wrap, along with various bandages here and there.

She also had a few bruises that were slowly disappearing the longer I looked at them (probably from the nectar).

But the one thing that really mattered to me was the fact that it was only her here, her and no one else.

The three had stopped their heated discussion at our obvious arrival.

"Well, you two got here mighty quick." Actaeon said eyeing the both of us.

"Alight, look here everyone! She hasn't even been back more than half-an-ha" Jane began till I spoke up.

"Where's Alice?" I interrupted, my voice strong and firm.

That one question had been echoing through my head for so long, that I couldn't bare to have it not answered.

Atalanta's gaze hardened for a moment, but quickly softened at me (but it looked like it was a forced reflex).

"Come, sit with me." Atalanta said to me, gesturing to the bed she was half sitting on.

"But… shouldn't we wait till the elders get here?" Jane said, glancing back and forth between me, Actaeon, and Atalanta.

"No… she deserves to hear this from me." She said, still looking at me.

"Hear what?!" I asked. This suspense was going to kill me.

"Why don't we give the ladies some privacy?" Actaeon asked but wasn't really asking. Jane looked reluctant, but nodded and left.

Atalanta and Actaeon shared a nod, then the cowboy left, giving me a nod too.

I waited for the door to shut, but there wasn't a sound. I glanced back and saw Thaddeus was still standing behind me.

"You too Thaddeus." Atalanta said, but he stayed his ground.

"…Are you okay?" he caringly asked Atalanta, who sighed, giving the boy a caring smile.

"Yes, my cub, I'm alright. We'll talk later." She said.

He lingered for a moment longer, but eventually he left; he gave me an encouraging nod, then closed the door behind him.

For a few moments, there was an awkward silence between the cat eared goddess and myself.

"Come on, sit. There is much to discuss." She said, once again gesturing to the spot next to her.

I don't know what exactly had me so nervous, whether it was the info I was about to be told, or the fact that a goddess was acting so… _leisurely_ with me.

But eventually, I sat down next to her, though my anxiousness was so very obvious.

"I wish I brought kinder news for you but…" she began but lost her words.

It finally made me understand her meaning.

"She's… she's not here, is she? You never found her." I said. Her eyes saddened as she nodded slowly.

My face fell to the floor as I struggled to hold back tears.

 _You'd think I had leaked enough of them when Carson… and know maybe Alice too._

"I am sorry." Atalanta said as she took my hand with hers. I squeezed it on reflex, my rage and sadness becoming more than clear as my hands were shaking.

She nodded her head in understanding my anger and sluggishly got up, starting to pace the room as she spoke.

"I tracked the trail northeast, it almost took me halfway through Montana, but before I could find them, I found another trail. It had the same prints as two of the four I was tracking." She said.

"It looked as though the two had backtracked and turned west. I didn't smell the scent of a demigod in their direction so I continued on the original trail, it lead me out into the plains and eventually I came across an area where a large encampment had been, but had moved. Quiet recently by my judgement." she took a breath before continuing, leaning slightly on a high table.

I knew she probably needed rest, but I desperately needed to know more so I let her continue.

"I ah… I could tell the group had left on a trail southeast and I was about to follow till I was… _intercepted_." She paused, as if she was recalling it all as it had happened.

"By what?" I asked.

Her eyes turned into mine, her gaze flashed with anger that almost made me back off.

" _Lycaon_ , and his pack of filth." She said with distaste at the werewolf kings name, I couldn't blame her either.

But I swore I heard a deep feral growl come from her too.

"They, had surrounded me and were apparently following the same scent I was when I'd been spotted. I was… _forced_ back and was able to escape without them following..." she finished with her own hand shaking a little at her own rage, but faded soon after.

"...or at least I hope I lost them." She half whispered.

"But then, what happened to Alice?" I asked, trying to keep the goddess on point.

"I wish I could say. I both sense and _believe_ she's still alive, but…" she gripped her injured arm.

"I am too wounded to go back out, and with Lycaon and his pack running around unchecked, I'm not willing to risk being followed back here again." she finished, but I definitely didn't like her final decision.

I stood up from the bed, getting the attention back from the goddess who'd had been gazing out like she'd been brooding.

"Well with all due respect my lady, I'm more than willing to risk it. That's one of _my_ Hunters out there, and it sounds like the leaders of this Ranch aren't gonna let me tell Artemis about this whole mess, so I'm going to go out there and find her even if it's just me." I said, and I made my way to the door.

Was it smart to have an attitude in front of a goddess; no, and for future reference it never is.

But after waiting all this time only to be told that we still knew next to nothing, my conviction was in overdrive.

" _Wait_." Atalanta firmly said, her voice like steal nail piercing through wood.

My body immediately stopped, as if Atalanta's order had overwritten my own control.

But honestly, her tone alone could have stopped a Mac truck at full speed.

She slowly walked over till she stood right next to me, well within my personal space.

"Artemis always did like those that had spirit, but now I see it was more than just your parentage that drew her to you." She said.

 _Was that a compliment?_

"But _do not_ mistake me for your mistress, I am far less forgiving of disobedience." She continued as she began to circle me like a predator judging her prey.

"Ours is a closely guarded secret, one I have struggled and sacrificed to keep. I will not allow you to risk the safety of _our_ home just because you are impatient." She stopped right in front of me after making a full circle.

Her eyes looked right through me, I felt so... _naked_ and vulnerable in front of them.

Her cat eyes stared at me for awhile longer, then leaned in close to my ear.

"Do not think your the only one worried for Alice's life." She whispered to me, making it clear who was the alpha of us.

 _But she made it sound like it was personal to her too._

She pulled away, and walked back to the bed. I finally felt my bodies control return to me, I stretched a little cause every time that happens, my muscles feel sore.

 _And yes, I've lost control of my body before, it's annoying but you get used to it after awhile._

I looked back and saw her sitting again, she looked so tired that you wouldn't have believed she had such a scary look to her.

"So... if you won't let me go find her myself, then what are you going to do?" I asked.

The goddess took her time thinking to herself before she had an answer for me.

"For now, I will tell the others here of my findings. After that, I'll do everything I can to convince them a rescue is needed, but Lycaons pack does present an issue." She said.

"And what if they say no because of that?" I asked.

A growl came from Atalanta's throat. "Then we'd just have to _improvise_."

 **LINE BREAK** **\- 2**

 **Thaddeus POV**

Since Thalia and Atalanta were probably going to need their time to talk, I decided to head back to the ranges.

When I had first heard the goddess had returned wounded, I immediately ran after Thalia to see her without a second thought.

Finding out what happened to her wasn't so much a concern of mine till I knew she was okay, but now that I knew she was fine, I couldn't help but feel rage build up in my stomach.

 _Nobody messes with Atalanta, and gets away with it._

A slap on my back brought me out of my stupor.

"Quit lookin so heated son, or your head'll start fumin." Actaeon said.

I hadn't even noticed him following me, guess my senses must be distracted.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"Ain't nothin to be sorry 'bout. I've known Whiskers a lot longer than you, and let me tell yeh; if I ever find those mangy mutts, I'll show em just how serious we take care of our own 'round here." He said, dramatically smashing his fists with his palm.

Actaeon and Atalanta have always shouldered the burden of guarding and teaching the Ranch together, so it figures the two grew to have a close-.

 _Wait a minute._

" _Mutts?_ " I asked.

His cheek twitched, telling me he had slipped up and said something I wasn't supposed to hear.

He does the same thing when I beat him at the pool table.

"Ugh! Damn my mouth and your good hearin." He said, aggressively scratching his head.

"You know who attacked Atalanta?" I asked.

" _Sigh…_ yeh, yeh I know who. He's called Lycaon." He said.

" _Lycaon_ … as in _the_ werewolf?" I asked, not really wanting to believe it was him. Nothing ever good happens when werewolves come up.

"Bingo, and it ain't the first time he's popped up in our business too. Fifty years ago, he chased down a group of recruits I'd found down in New Mexico; we'd barely made it out with our lives." He said.

I didn't know much about him other than a few stories from the legion. The idea of a werewolf of all things being from Greek myth was hard to believe.

 _I always thought he was just a folktale or something._

"And now he's out there somewhere, this is going to make getting that Hunter even more difficult." I said.

"That be _if_ you're allowed." Actaeon added, making me stop and look at him as he stopped too.

"With Whiskers injuries, and the risk of her being followed, the Elders won't likely let yeh go." He clarified, folding his arms, a sign he was not going to like explaining this.

"But the hunter is-"

"As cruel as it sounds, she ain't our responsibility, Atalanta already tried and failed at tracking her down." He said.

"She didn't _fail_ , she was forced to come back, you know she wouldn't ever-"

"Of course I know that!" Actaeon shouted back, his usual tone replaced quickly with gritty anger.

Know in the past, I've been fortunate to have avoided Actaeon whenever he's pissed, if he ever was (he's a very _go-with-the-flow_ kind of guy).

But I've heard plenty of times from Atalanta that when he gets mad, he gets _mad._

His eyes flashed a dark wild green for a moment, and I had to fight the urge to step back, but I'm pretty sure I did a little bit anyway.

"Now you listen and listen well _boy_. For over fifty lifetimes, I have roamed and fought on this earth!" He growled out, his western accent replaced with a harder, more fluent and ancient voice that made him seem like a very different person.

Even his look began to change, slightly overlapping with shrubby fur and leather clothes.

On his head I could almost make out… _antlers?_

He leaned close, stabbing me with his finger, _hard_. It felt like I was being punched by a mini fist.

"Never, _ever_ think that I would willingly allow innocent lives to be cut short." He gritted out.

"But know there is a very thin line for how far one can go before it becomes… too far." His look know had definitely changed.

His beard was longer but less grey and his clothes, now made of various animal furs, were tattered and wrenched.

He looked as if he'd lived through the worst storms, both rain and snow, over and over.

But what was most obvious was a pair of tan deer antlers sticking out of Actaeon's head like a crown (looks to be a six-no seven pointer).

The random thought of him poking me in the eye with them wasn't helping my nerves either.

"I have seen again and again and again what happens when you put the life of one, over the lives of many. The results of such a selfish act are… _inexcusable_." He growled, his eyes never leaving my own.

But then he closed his, and his features relaxed… if only a little.

His body slowly faded back to what it was before, like a layer of dust being swept away by the wind.

"And… I have no taste to witness such flames and death _ever_ again." He finished, opening his eyes to show they too were back to normal, but still glaring at me.

After a few moments of pause with him just looking into my eyes, I couldn't help but shiver slightly and look away in regret of my words.

 _And because of the fact that his other look made Conan the barbarian look like a Halloween costume._

It was hard having him hound me like this.

He was, in many ways, a father figure to me; I've always aimed for his approval, and I suppose the feeling I have know is what most kids would call being regretful of angering ones parent, but still secretly thinking you were right despite it all.

I heard him sigh and noticed he began to fidget a little till he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"We can't save em all son." He said, his accent returning to normal too(or at least the one he uses most).

I can't say how, but I found the nerve to shrug his hand off, rebelliousness rising up in me as I stepped back.

"But _I_ can try!" I growled. "I have a responsibility to. If I can save someone no matter who that might be, then I'm doing it. I won't abandon them when I have the choice to get up and do something!"

I turned and stormed off without so much as giving Actaeon a chance to respond, but he did anyway.

"Like the choice yeh made in Oregon?" He said.

My step caught and I halted. Flashes of memories came through me.

A half burnt forest that steamed and smoldered under a grey rainfall that was becoming heavier as the night drew closer..

The smell of burnt flesh coming from a giants' body off the side of a small cliff, his form slowly dissipating so only his lizard like legs remained.

The weight of a girls lifeless form in my arms, her body also partly burned like the surrounding wilderness, with half her face in blistered black.

And the sound of screaming; loud, deafening, ...and broken.

 _My screams…_

"That's… got nothing to do with this." I growled, and quickly continued my footing, going just shy of a jog.

"The hell it don't." I faintly heard Actaeon say before I got out of ear shot.

I ignored him and walked on, my head now spinning from the confrontation.

 _It doesn't…_ I thought.

" _Doesn't it?"_ A familiar voice asked.

 _This is different, this time I won't freeze._

" _Your doing it again buddy."_

 _Talking to myself?_

 _"Nope, you're blaming yourself too much."_

 _But It was my fault…_

 _"Keep telling yourself that, we both still know there was nothing you could have done. Life sucks that way."_

"Ha ha" I laughed lightly. "Of course you'd word it so simply."

The inner voice didn't respond, but I could picture her laughing with that same contagious smile.

 _Well… thanks for trying Lucy._

 **A/N-HE LIVES!**

 **Sorry for the long break, new jobs kept me busy and other hobbies here and there.**

 **But as you can see, I've done some** _ **tinkering**_ **here and there.**

 **This chapter has been a side project for nearly three months, so I hope it was worth the wait for most of you guys.**

 **For new readers, welcome. Remember low expectations makes my work easier:]**

 **Expect slow updates ladies and gents, that's the full honest truth. I won't promise a chapter I may or may not write.**

 **Question for my readers, I'm also tinkering with another story. Should I start one up and try to balance the two, or stick with one at a time?**

 **Next - Ch 16:** Teachings and Planning


	16. Teaching and Planning

**Orphans of Legends**

 **Ch-16:** Teachings and Plans

 **Faith POV**

 _Why am I so terrible at arts and crafts!_ I thought as I looked at my fourth attempt to create a somewhat pretty picture.

Now I didn't expect myself to have renaissance level skills here, but you'd think I'd at least do a half-decent job at coloring in characters as simple as Lilo and Stitch!

Now if this was something like language arts, martial arts, or even the art of war I'd be decent, but when it comes to _art-_ art, I was terrible.

On the bright side; Jenna and Linda aren't big on criticism.

And on the other side; it was getting a little lonely here. Thaddeus had been gone for over half an hour now, and the rest of the kids who had come here to train had taken their chance with the teacher being gone to slip away.

So now it was just me and the girls, which wasn't a bad thing, but the atmosphere had gotten more still like I was just quietly waiting on a train till it got to the next stop.

 _I only wish this_ train _would go a little faster._

I was halfway through coloring that one alien with the one eye and three legs in the color of purple when boredom was beginning to take effect.

 _Ugh! If I draw one more alien in a hula shirt, I'm gonna lose it._

I decided to take a break and got up to stretch my legs. I sighed as I felt them crack, which they tend to do after a long day of training and when I sit too long,

Linda looked up for a second but seeing as I wasn't doing anything special just went back to doodling.

Jenna, on the other hand, didn't even acknowledge I had moved, being utterly focused on making Pumbaa the warthog green.

I walked down the length of the pavilion, stretching out my arms and shoulders, feeling more satisfying cracks in my joints as I did.

 _I wonder what Thalia and Thaddeus are up to? Whatever it is, I hope they get back soon; watching these two isn't hard, but it's getting really-_

My thought process hit pause when my eyes caught sight of a certain firing lane box that just happened to still have a bow and a set of arrows in it.

- _boring…_

I looked all around to see if anyone else, except the girls, were here or downrange getting their arrows.

 _All clear._

I walked up to the box to check the equipment out.

The bow was simple and standard in shape, a little on the smaller size, but still usable.

Whoever was here before must have either forgotten to put their gear back or probably just didn't care and lazily left it here.

 _Hmm…_

I glanced around again for good measure; again, no one save for the occupied artists. I looked back and pondered till I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.

"Ah, what the hell." I whispered.

Sucking another breath, I picked up the bow, my hands drifting over it.

It was pretty basic, with a good grip and recurved slightly so that it would increase the power and distance despite its small size

I pulled the string and it seemed well taunted. The only oddity about it was that it was the color of lime green.

 _Why lime?_ I thought randomly.

It felt like it was meant for one of those summer camps. (No, not Half-Blood. They at least have good taste in plain colored bows).

 _But I do hate their shirts' color._

I gripped it firmly up and drew the string back like I had an arrow notched, aiming it downrange.

The feeling of my muscles tightening and my breath becoming relaxed felt refreshingly familiar due to the countless hours of training and practice.

I lowered the bow and for a moment and thought; _maybe a little training wouldn't hurt._

I reached for an arrow but stopped a hair length away.

 _What the…?_

My hand was shaking, or more like shivering as if it was freezing outside. I didn't know why, but it just was, I couldn't feel it moving. If I hadn't seen it, I never would have known it was shaking at all.

After a few more seconds it stopped on its own, but the fact that it happened at all made me... scared.

 _I guess… I'm not ready yet._

I sighed to myself and turned to put the bow back when my wandering eye caught a certain young girl watching me.

She immediately looked down and enthusiastically continued her doodling, trying to act as nothing happened, but she was hardly convincing.

I perked an eyebrow and glanced at the bow in my hands, then back at the girl. A smirk forming on my mouth as an idea came to my head.

With the bow still in my hands, I walked over to the table and kneeled down to the shy girl that was doing her best to act casual. _So cute._

"Hey Linda, you wanna give it a try?" I asked her.

The young eight-year-olds ears were a little red from embarrassment with her face following suit. She hadn't wanted to try it before with Thaddeus, but that didn't mean she wasn't still interested.

"Um-uh… N-no thanks." She said, pretending to focus more on her drawing.

 _Still, playing hard to get eh?_

"Hey, it's just us here. Just you and me. It'll be fun!" I pushed, rubbing her back to try and get her to calm down, but she still shook her head.

 _Hmm, alright. Let's try the reverse._

"Well, okay then. It was probably way too hard for a small and little girl like you to do anyway." I said with a dramatic tone that I hoped wasn't too much for the effect I wanted.

It got her attention at least, her face contorted into a mix of confusion and anger. _Just what I wanted, Yahtzee._

"I am not little!" She retorted. Her shy voice actually raised a few decibels than before.

 _Alright, time to start the dramatics._

"Hm... well only big girls can do archery, but since you don't want to do it, I guess you're not ready to be a big girl yet." I said crossing my arms with the bow still in hand and my chin higher, so I had to look down at her, I was trying my best to make my voice sound condescending.

"That's not fair! I don't even know how!" She retorted.

"I'll teach you, but only if you're up for being a big girl?" I suggested.

"Mmmmgh…" she pouted, her cheeks becoming a little bigger.

She folded her arms and scrunched herself, her eyes looking away from me. After a full minute passed, I half-heard a whisper from her.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you?" I asked, knowing well what she probably said.

"...C-can you... teach me?" She asked with a hint of spite still in her. But there was also longing in there too.

While I could have pushed more; she could have asked more clearly and with eye contact or more politely. But it's not like I was the girl's mother, all I wanted was for her to give in, which she did.

But I still couldn't help but lightly laugh at her action.

"I would love to." I said with a smile and offered her my hand.

She seemed hesitant again and must have realized she'd been played. But eventually, she took my hand and we both started walking to the shooting lane.

"Oh! Oh! Can I learn too?!" I heard Jenna's enthusiastic voice ask.

 _Oh right, almost forgot her being here._ I looked back at her starting to get up from her chair.

"Um… why don't you ask Thaddeus for lessons later Jenna? I bet he'd love to teach you." I said.

"Aww, oookayyy. But you promise he will?" She asked, her eyes sparkling with childish enthusiasm.

" _Sigh_...Yes." I said. _Sorry, Thaddeus. At least she didn't-_

"Pinky promise?" She asked, offering me her smallest finger. I could almost feel that coming the moment I started thinking about it _._

I had no choice but to take the tiny pinky with my own and shook it. "Pinky promise."

That seemed to guarantee her goal, and she simply went back to drawing, not having nearly as much enthusiasm about learning archery just a second ago.

Darn little kids, always getting interested one moment, and then they become uninterested the next _._

 _Thaddeus is not gonna be happy I made a promise for him behind his back, that's if he's anything like I think this is._ I thought.

There really is nothing worse than giving a little girl a promise, then shoving it onto someone else's shoulders.

The other hunters would do that to me sometimes as a joke when I first arrived. They'd promise Artemis one thing, or another would get done, then they'd put me in the middle. As an excuse, they said it was the same for every newbie.

Anyway, poor traditions aside, I led Linda back over to the shooting lane. We spent the next half hour going through stances, grips, and how to aim for a target at an angle.

She may have been shy before, but know she was attentive like a top tier student. She didn't ask questions or argued, she just did her best to follow my instructions.

When she finally made her first shot at a fifteen-meter target, it missed. Her power was sort, but her aim looked good when the arrow hit the target's wooden base.

She, of course, looked upset at her first try and it took a little convincing from me to make her keep going.

Her second shot hit the bottom edge of the target. It was an improvement, not a lot, but better than most on their second shot.

We went through another dozen or so shots. Whenever we needed more arrows, I just grabbed any that were left behind in the other lane boxes. Kids at Half-Blood were the same, they really didn't like cleaning up after themselves.

As she practiced, she was getting better. Not getting all shots on the target, but most of them. At this point, Linda was still only at a beginner level, so just getting any of the shots on the target was a win.

If she wanted to get proficient as an archer, then it will take much more practicing.

After one last shot, I noticed her string fingers were getting a little red, so I thought it best for her to take a break to collect her arrows.

She actually looked disappointed in stopping, but she still put her bow down and ran to collect her shots. I made a quick glance left and right to make sure no one was shooting, seeing that there wasn't, I relaxed a bit. That is until a voice spoke behind me.

"Having fun?"

I turned back and leaning on a wood post was none other than Thaddeus. A small smirk on his lips.

Jenna was with him too. Or better put; she was _on top_ of him. She sat on his shoulders, playing around with his short and frisky hair while watching Linda.

"Linda is so cool! I want to be that good too! Can I Thad?! Pleeeeease?" she begged while swaying around his head.

"Sure thing trouble, a pinky promise is unbreakable right?" he said, giving me the eyebrow at the same time.

I have to admit that I felt a little embarrassed. I wasn't sure what exactly that made me embarrassed more; the pinky promise or getting caught teaching? But my cheeks became slightly warm anyway.

"Um... how long were you watching us?" I asked, trying my best so my voice stayed unbroken.

"Heh, long enough." He replied, grabbing Jenna off his shoulders and asking her to go help Linda collect her arrows.

I prepared myself for an argument about proper archery teaching and promises, but what I got was different.

"So… I take it my help is no longer needed?" He asked, leaning back on the post with his arms crossed. "If it was ever wanted in the first place."

"Huh?" He caught me off guard and I wasn't sure what he was talking about at first. But then I remembered our previous conversation about my new phobia of fighting and how he offered to help me. "What do you mean I don't need your help anymore?"

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you didn't enjoy teaching that girl." He said, referring to Linda.

"Well, yes. Of course, I liked it, but what has that got anything to do with my problem." I asked.

"It's simple, you don't need me or whatever help I could give you. You've just found your own way of coping." He stated, walking up and leaning on another post closer to the firing line and me.

"What? Teaching a little girl how to shoot is the answer?" I asked, to which he simply nodded.

"But… I don't get this. It can't be that simple! How is this gonna help me with my… _fear_ of fighting?!" I said, getting annoyed.

" _Sigh…_ " he rubbed the back of his neck as he looked like he was trying to find the right words to use. "Look, your problem is that you think you _can't_ fight. What you really need to ask yourself is if you _want_ to fight."

 _Whether I want to fight?_

"What kind of weird philosophy bull is that?! Of course, I do! But each time I try to use a weapon, my hand…" I unconsciously rub my right palm. "Shivers…"

"Of course it does." He said as if that was what a hand was supposed to do.

"You went through a rough beating. If not for the nectar, you'd have a concussion, a broken arm, not to mention enough scars and bruises to make Rambo jealous." He said, then looked off somewhere. "Nectar fixes the body well enough, but the mind, the memories… that's up to us to fix."

Suddenly, Thaddeus looked much older. His eyes had a look in them as if they had seen a whole lifetime go by.

"You make it sound like you've been through it a few times." I said but immediately felt like I shouldn't have pried into his past. But instead of tensing, he smiled and gave a huff of a laugh.

"You could say that. After my first fight against actual monsters, I was a mess. Barely ate, didn't sleep if I could help it, avoided weapons, fighting, even talking to others." He said.

That seems about the right reaction. Hailey, one of the only newer Hunters after me, was almost the same way after her first battle with monsters in Iowa.

"... How'd you get through it." I asked, my eyes paying more attention to the gravel my foot was kicking.

"Time, lots and lots of time." He answered.

 _Well, that's not what I was hoping to hear._

"Thanks, for talking with me… It helps." I said.

"Your welcome. And… well, there is something else I need to tell you about." He said, tensing a bit like he was preparing for a slap to the face or something.

" _Sigh._ Is it at least going to be better than what we've been talking about so far?" I asked, hoping but not expecting.

"I can't make any promises, it's one of those: 'glass half empty/half full things'." he admitted.

 _Oh great…_

 **LINEBREAK 1**

 **Thaddeus POV**

 _This isn't going to go well._

Faith and I were now sitting at a picnic table. We had Linda take a walk with Jenna to give us some space. But honestly, I wished we'd kept Jenna around, she's the master when it comes to comforting others because she's basically a human teddy bear.

"So…" Faith stated, trying to get the conversation going.

She was leaning on her arms and twiddling with her thumbs, that told me she was anxious and knew whatever I had to say, it was important… Or that she's bored?

 _Damn it, I wish Thalia was here instead. Why didn't I just wait for her to tell her? Way-to-a-go Thaddeus, way to jump the gun._

I cleared my throat. "So, um... Atalanta is back."

That got her full attention, her eyes shouted questions faster than her mouth could, and I already expected what she'd ask. But she surprisingly held her tongue; Instead, she waited for me to tell her the details. _If only I knew all of them._

"She arrived just over an hour ago, wounded but alive… and alone." I said and paused, letting that sink in.

Faith's look of interest changed to one that's hard to describe.

If I had to place it, she looked defeated. But in every sense of the word. Her whole body slumped, and she started to fidget and sway around like she didn't know what to do.

Her head turned as her eyes kept glancing around almost frantically. Then she quickly stood up and made a beeline for… well, I'm not sure where she was going, but I got up and followed her.

" _When dealing with a distressed patient, follow them as best you can but be tactful of what you say, or you may have a bruised jaw later."_ Jane's words of wisdom never ceased to be useful.

"Wait, Faith?" She ignored me and was already around the corner of the pavilion. As I turned the corner after her, I couldn't help but remember this kind of thing happening before with a certain daughter of Zeus. _Are all Hunters like this?_

There were still quite a few people around even though it was nearing lunch hour. And they all started glancing at us as I followed the disheartened huntress, she fast-walked through and around people like they were nothing but trees in her way.

I followed and waited till there wasn't anyone nearby to finally reach out and catch her arm, making her stop.

"Please, just wait a minute." I asked as she kept trying to walk off, not even looking back at me; the power behind her movement was sluggish like she didn't even register I was trying to stop her.

"Let go." she said, but I kept my grip firm.

"I said. _Let. GO!_ " she screamed as she finally yanked her arm away.

I was almost tempted to let her go off to wherever she needed to go, give her some space and whatever time she needed to process it all. But instead of storming off again, she just stood there for a few seconds, then she walked over to a bench on the trail we were on and sat.

She was facing away from me and was holding one of her arms in front of her like my grip had wounded her, but I was certain I hadn't used too much force with her; after all, I only wanted to calm her down.

Then I noticed the shaking; her shoulders and head were trembling like she was cold. _She's crying..._

My mind raced with what I should do. If Atalanta was one to go off, Hunters of Artemis don't break easily. Thalia had only cemented that fact with her stern attitude and glaring personality.

But seeing the struggling Huntress before me, I realized that they are still people; tough, skilled, awesome people, but people, nonetheless.

Minutes passed and I just stood there like a tree, feeling useless and awkward.

" _Well come on then you idiot! What're you gonna do?"_ That annoying inner voice spoke. She always liked butting in at times like this.

"..."

" _Oh! Trying to ignore me for what? The thousandth time?! Never seemed to work for you before, so stop wasting time with your own inner debates and trust your instincts, they aren't too bad… most of the time at least."_ she pushed.

And go figure, a small gust of wind hit my back, urging me forward. _Damn you, Lucy._

I surrendered to the winds push and walked over to her, she kept her head down so I couldn't see her face, but I already figured what it looked like.

Glancing over to the open part of the bench next to her, I quietly sighed and sat down with a good distance between us because I didn't want to make her any more uncomfortable than she already was.

And so, we just sat there.

The wind blew slowly through the forest; it was still nice and sunny out with the light showing through the leaves and branches of the trees above us, bringing a calming effect.

I couldn't say if it was helping Faith calm down, she still looked to be sobbing from time to time. But it definitely helped me.

Despite how I might look all calm and caring, I actually felt very awkward. How could I not? Here I was sitting next to a girl I had known less than a day who was dealing with a _lot_ and looked so… lonely.

We were still practically strangers to each other, and my brain kept trying to question if this was the right action to take. I couldn't simply comfort her like a friend would, that'd be overstepping it, but I couldn't leave her feeling alone, so the only solution I could see was to sit and wait.

" _Sometimes that's all anyone needs."_ my inner haunting ghost said, causing a memory of a long time ago to surface.

A younger me wearing battered battle armor with a cracked and dulled sword at my feet, a cloud of shame hovered over me as I sat outside the New Rome Colosseum. I could still hear the roar of the crowd inside as they watched another mid-afternoon match.

What brought me to this was a stupid decision; in my stubbornness, I had challenged my cohorts' senior centurion, Cole, after he had recklessly led us in a recent war game, again. I was angry with him because twelve of our troops were injured and a better plan would have saved them from getting hurt.

The part that really got me in trouble was that I had stupidly pointed this out right after the battle in front of the rest of the cohort and a few members from others.

As punishment, I was made an example of by being assigned to both clean all the legions weapons and being made a gladiator of the colosseum games, meaning I was the one that was meant to lose.

Usually, colosseum matches and plays were all voluntary; often the children of Mars and/or Venus would do them because one likes to fight and the other likes to be dramatic. Today, being a gladiator was more along the lines of being the target car at a monster truck rally. In recent years this task has become an unofficial yet preferred method of punishment.

Thankfully, nobody ever dies in colosseum battle reenactments anymore like in Ancient Rome, but you still get pretty beat up for it. After going through three separate reenactments of different battles, my sword arm finally failed, and I got more bruises for it than I could bear with.

The only reason I was allowed to leave was because of safety rules and because Centurion Cole was convinced I had had enough and learned my lesson.

And now there I was, sitting alone and in pain. Wishing I had just kept my mouth shut about the war game.

But my moments of reflection were shattered when I heard someone take a seat next to me. I glanced over and saw it was an older girl who I recognized from another cohort, the fourth maybe? But I never heard her name before.

She was a girl of average height, with golden hair that flowed on her right shoulder. She wore a blue jean jacket over a white shirt, tan short-shorts and some red/white classic-looking sneakers on her feet. Her posture was relaxed with her legs crossed and hands in her coat pockets.

She looked like any average high school girl that tended to be the livelier member of a group.

"Rough beating out there." Was all she said. I didn't respond, letting my head sink back down and trying to ignore her. The last thing I wanted was somebody taking pity on me, especially someone I had never met.

Strangely, she didn't say anything else. She just sat their next to me like she was shooting the breeze. I figured she'd leave eventually either from awkwardness or my sweaty stench from the fight, so I just ignored her and we both sat in silence.

After maybe twenty minutes, nothing had changed. I wanted to tell her off, make her leave, or maybe even fight her so she would leave me alone. But another part of me was glad she was there, it made me feel better, but I couldn't tell why.

More time flew by and we both still sat in silence; I actually started to like it. Eventually, I began trying to find the courage to talk with her. But, of course, I was only fourteen years old while she looked to be sixteen or seventeen, and she was kind of pretty too. So, go figure my nerves started acting up and my palms began to heat.

I'd like to think I was about to drum up the courage to talk to her when, sadly, my hopes were shattered.

"Martin." I heard my last name shouted, I turned and saw it was Cole, he was walking from the colosseum steps with his centurion badge gleaming in the sunlight. He wasn't looking mad anymore, but he didn't look like he regretted what he made me do.

I prepared to be scolded and put down by his words. But what I really didn't want was for the girl next to me to see it happen, it would be embarrassing.

"Come on, I'll take you to Apollo's Temple to get you checked up. Tomorrow you start cleaning the weapons with the probatio kids, and then it's back to your regular schedule." He said, offering his hand to me.

His words weren't the ones I was expecting and I just Iooked at him for a second too long till he gestured his hand again and it broke me out of my confused thoughts.

 _Maybe he isn't so bad after all._ I thought, gaining a new perspective of my centurion.

Taking and letting out a breath, I took his hand and he helped me up. I glanced back at the girl before we left. She smiled and waved goodbye, not exchanging any words; I didn't smile because I was disappointed at not being able to talk, but I at least waved back.

After we had gotten out of earshot, Cole looked to me. "Next time you want to talk strategy, just come talk to me alone. I'm open to constructive criticism, but I expect you to talk to me about it in private and not in front of the whole legion. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir." I said defeatedly.

Cole wasn't a bad leader; he just wasn't the best strategist. He was a tall kid with black hair he almost never took care of and so it was drooping down his neck and forehead. I wasn't sure what his age was, but he had been in the legion for seven, maybe eight years and has been the Fifth Cohorts lead centurion for three.

A lot of people said he didn't like being chosen as the cohorts' leader, but he did his best at it because as a son of Victoria, the goddess of victory, he didn't back down from a challenge.

After having time to think back, I knew that I was out of place when I called him out and that my punishment was to show what would happen if I or anyone else in the Fifth Cohort was ever openly rebellious like that again.

This way of life is not the easiest to understand, it took me a while to get used to it, and as you can see, I was still working on it.

The Twelfth Legion works under what Cole calls a chain of command, each member of the legion is a part of that chain and is expected to follow whatever orders or action the first chain does; in my case, that first chain is Cole.

I had overstepped myself and went against that command; even if I might have been right to point out his mistake to him, I had done so in front of everyone and probably made Cole look like an idiot of a centurion. I'm lucky I wasn't transferred to another cohort for my action.

"So, what did Lucy have to say to you?" Cole asked as we walked.

"Who?" I asked back, I didn't know what he meant because I didn't know who he was talking about.

"The girl you were just sitting next to. Her name is Lucy, she's a centurion of the Third Cohort and is their second-in-command. She's known all over the legion as a friendly face and often volunteers in teaching probatio's the ropes. She give you any advice?" he asked.

I shook my head. "She just sat with me for a while."

"Huh, yeah; sounds like Lucy. That's a child of Venus for you I guess." he said.

 _So that's why she looked pretty._ I thought as we walked off.

A sneeze broke me out of memory lane, and I looked to see Faith had sneezed into her elbow, she sniffed again to try and clear her nose.

Out of habit, I offered her my handy Kleenex travel pack I usually reserve for Jenna, but I figured she needed them more then Jenna will today.

With my head elsewhere, I had lost track of time and almost a half-hour had passed with the two of us sitting there. It's funny how time flies when- _Oh shit! Jenna and Linda!_

I mentally berated myself for forgetting the two girls we had left alone at the range! I coughed and got up, knowing that those two took priority.

"I've got to get back to the girls, take all the time you need out here." I said to Faith, she only spared me a glance and a small nod.

With that, I took my leave of the lost huntress. I had wished to stay and help more, but I suppose there was nothing more I could do except to wait.

On the way back, I thought back to that day I had first met Lucy at Camp Jupiter. That day was long and grueling, but the time I spent on the bench with her was the highlight of it.

" _Aw! You had a crush on me since then!? That's so adorable! If you had managed to talk to me then, I wonder, what would have said?"_

"Speak of the devil and she will appear…" I whispered to myself, which was followed by soft yet almost maniacal laughter in my head that faded out as it went.

After that, it was a quiet walk back. When I got there, I yet again found a Hunter showing a little girl archery. The difference now was that it was Thalia and… _Jenna!_

I had to take an extra breath when I saw my troublemaker try to pull an arrow back on a bow that was too big for her and a smirking Thalia trying her best not to laugh at the poor display of strength.

I coughed in my hand to get their attention and that turned out to be the wrong choice as Jenna had turned her whole body to look, pointing it low in Thalia's direction; with her arrow still partially drawn back, she accidentally let go and it struck a few inches away from Thalia's foot.

Thalia, surprisingly, barely flinched while Jenna looked shell-shocked.

"Oops." the small girl said after a few seconds of nobody talking. "Sorry…"

"I'm alright. Just remember to always point downrange, okay? Go ahead and get the other ones you shot. Look to make sure no one is firing first." Thalia directed to which trouble agreed and went to work picking up her shots.

"Did you have to do that?" I asked as I walked up to her.

"Do what? Teach her archery? She's probably gonna pick it up eventually so why not start now? Besides, she wouldn't stop begging me." Thalia pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. She is persistent. Mind helping me clean up?" I asked and she nodded and we both got to work.

"What happened to Faith? All I got out of the girls was that she got upset and ran off with you right behind her." she asked as we worked.

"She's okay, I think. I told her about Atalanta and she kind of… didn't know what to do anymore I guess; she's sitting on a bench down the trail you went down with Lignum. I would have stayed with her, but I had to get back to these girls because you never know when Lieutenants of Artemis will come along and try to teach them a skill or two." I ended with a joke to try and lighten the mood.

"Oh ha, ha. For the record, there is only one Lieutenant in Artemis's Hunt. And getting a lesson from her on archery is considered a high honor by Olympus." she rebutted.

"I'm sure it is." I simply said. A few minutes passed with the two of us and the girls cleaning up till Thalia decided to break the silence.

"Thanks for making sure she was okay, she's still a young Hunter and this was supposed to be her first big mission. I just hope she's not out of the fight yet, we're gonna need her for getting Alice back." she said.

I nodded at her assessment. I found it odd to believe Faith to be a sort of rookie in the Hunters when she actually looks older than it's Lieutenant; that's immortality for you.

"Atalanta give any clues to that?" I asked.

"Yeah, a direction. We had better go soon or the trail will become cold and Zeus knows where Alice will end up after that." I nodded, agreeing with her.

"I've already got a plan for how to help us out there. The trick will be getting the 'go' for it." I said, making Thalia paused like I said something she didn't expect.

" _Us_? You want to come with us?"

"Yup."

"But… this isn't your fight. As the Lieutenant of Artemis's Hunt, it's my responsibility to get all my Hunters home. And going with us will mean risking the world finding out about this place." she pointed out.

"When a friend needs help, you help 'em." I countered back.

"Where'd you get that nugget of wisdom? Nursery school?" she joked.

"Letterkenny." I answered.

She simply looked more confused, I guessed they either don't like comedy shows or don't have Hulu in the Hunt.

"Besides, whether we like it or not, we failed to save your friend that night too. So, I believe it's on us to help rescue her." I said, putting the last of the bows away.

Thalia looked at me like she was trying to solve a puzzle as she loaded the arrows up into Blue's cart. But she was quick to smirk and shrug like she was thinking _'why not'_.

"Alright, I guess Artemis would scold me for turning away help when I really could use some. But I gotta ask; what _plan_ have you got in mind?" she asked with a smirk.

 **A/N - Still hanging in there fellas, work and life keeps a person busy. I wish I found more enthusiasm to write these last few months, but I'm still chugging along with the story.**

 **How did my rewrite look? Better, worse, somewhere in the middle? Constructive Criticism is welcome.**

 **I must admit I've started thinking of more stories, not just in PJO, but in other works too! A few ideas for Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Fate series. The hard part would be the action and plot.**

 **I know it's not smart to work on multiple at once, and I won't post another story till this one is finished, but it's fun to tinker.**

 **Also… how about** _ **The Witcher**_ **, is it not awesome! I'm not a gamer, but I might pick up the books now cause I am loving the story.**

 **Happy New Year everyone, stay safe in 2020.**

 **Next - Ch 17:** The Final Decision


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